A Case Study in Collective Punishment

Israel’s Use of Aid as Leverage

As the war enters its final stages, Israel has made a startlingly candid admission: it is deliberately using starvation and the restriction of humanitarian aid as instruments of war and political leverage. In a display of remarkable brazenness, Israeli officials told the United Nations that the flow of aid to Gaza will remain limited until Hamas complies with Israeli demands — a statement that strips away any pretense. This is not a misstep or a misunderstanding; it is the deliberate punishment of a civilian population to achieve political or military objectives. By international legal standards, this constitutes collective punishment — a war crime — and yet it is being broadcast without shame. 

Under international humanitarian law (IHL)—specifically the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols—using the restriction of humanitarian aid to civilians as leverage to achieve political or military objectives is generally considered a violation. This principle applies even in complex situations involving non-state armed groups like Hamas.

Prohibition of Collective Punishment

Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits collective punishment:

“No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Restricting essential aid (food, water, medicine, fuel) to the entire civilian population of Gaza to pressure Hamas—a non-state actor—constitutes collective punishment, which is a war crime.

Obligation to Ensure Humanitarian Access

Under IHL, parties to a conflict must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need (Customary IHL Rule 55; Geneva Convention IV, Article 23; Additional Protocol I, Article 70). While the occupying power (in this case, Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza under international law according to many legal scholars and the UN) has security concerns, it cannot deny or reduce aid as a coercive tactic.

Distinction Between Combatants and Civilians

IHL requires that civilians be protected from the effects of hostilities. Using aid as a bargaining chip blurs this distinction and endangers civilian lives, potentially violating the principle of distinction and the prohibition against using starvation as a method of warfare (Rome Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(xxv)).

Humanitarian Aid Must Be Impartial

Humanitarian assistance must be provided based on need alone, without discrimination or political conditionality (UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182; IHL principles). Conditioning aid on the return of hostages’ remains—while emotionally and politically understandable—transforms humanitarian aid into a tool of coercion, which undermines its legal and ethical basis.

Contextual Nuances:

• Security Checks: Israel has the right to inspect aid for weapons or dual-use items, but such inspections must not unduly delay or block life-saving assistance.
• Hamas’s Role: While Hamas’s actions (including holding hostages and using civilian infrastructure) also violate IHL, this does not absolve Israel of its own obligations toward civilians under its effective control or influence.
• UN and ICRC Stance: Both the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have repeatedly emphasized that humanitarian aid must not be politicized or used as leverage.

Deliberately halving humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population to pressure Hamas into returning the bodies of hostages would likely constitute a violation of international humanitarian law—specifically as collective punishment and a denial of humanitarian access. While states may pursue legitimate security and diplomatic objectives, IHL strictly prohibits using civilian suffering as a means to those ends.

This does not preclude negotiations over hostages or remains, but such efforts must be pursued through lawful means that do not endanger civilian lives or violate the core principles of IHL.

Israel's intense bombardment has reduced buildings and homes to rubble, with an estimated 10,000 people in Gaza buried beneath it—some of whom may include Israelis. The Red Cross is warning that finding the dead captives is a ‘massive challenge’ due to the rubble left behind by airstrikes, and that some may never be found.