This paper aims to investigate the factors affecting the operations and efficiency of Humanitarian Logistics (HL) through its three main phases of preparedness, response, and recovery in the developing country context of Palestine. A quantitative research methodology using a survey instrument was employed in this study through which data were collected from 108 HL offices in government, NGOs, and other private logistics institutions operating in Palestine. Data were analyzed for its empirical significance on SPSS V21.0 using Pearson Correlation coefficient test. The results show that the most influential factor on efficiency of preparedness phase was “planning for logistics operations”, whereas the most influential factors on response and recovery phases were “logistics technical operations” and “logistics, governmental, organizational and infrastructure issues”, respectively. Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between factors of preparedness phase and efficiency of both response and recovery phases, and between factors of response phase and efficiency of recovery phase. This study provides valuable insights for HL organizations, NGOs, and policymakers on factors required to enhance efficiency and overall performance of HL management in Palestine and other developing country context with similar political and economic challenges.  

Keywords
Humanitarian logistics, Logistics management, Logistics efficiency factors, Disasters management, Palestine.