Humanitarian Aid: Really?

The government of Israel has decided to step up the war on Hamas. Tens of thousands of reservists are being called up. Diplomacy is being given the right of way, as President Donald Trump comes to the region. The hope is that his presence will somehow encourage the sides to sign a deal. 

At the same time, the government is going to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. It will be distributed by third parties to the civilians, and Hamas will not get any. Just in and of itself, I would bet that this system is going to be about as successful as was the $350 million flotilla fiasco. 

My military experience is likely more a result of watching movies than it is of actual military service, but one does not need to be Eisenhower to understand that providing humanitarian aid to the enemy is, at best, counterproductive. If the intent is to pressure Hamas into the result we desire – the release of the hostages and surrendering – one very effective way of reaching that goal is to hermetically seal the Strip. No food, no water, no WiFi, no toilet paper. Nothing. 

But surely, we cannot lump the innocent civilians in with the beasts of Hamas. I use the word “innocent”, but I question whether it applies. With all the suffering of the poor, innocent civilians, we watched them participate on October 7, and released hostages have told us that they were held by civilians.

There is a legitimate concern that a siege of this sort would endanger the hostages. The truth is that anything we say and do is a potential threat to the hostages. We argue with each other about how best to proceed to get them out, we rally in the thousands calling for a deal, we target Hamas leaders who surround themselves with our people – all these endanger the hostages. This is why Hamas does it. It has been a successful strategy to weaken us and make us more vulnerable. With nothing coming in, they become weak and more vulnerable. 

There is an angle to this that I first began to think about during the Biden Administration. Israel was under constant pressure to provide humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza. Weapons would be denied if Israel did not comply with the demand. In the U.S., this type of aid is known as aiding and abetting the enemy. It is a form of treason. The Constitution says so. 

“Article III, Section 3, Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”  The penalty for such behaviour is anywhere from 5 years in prison to death. 

I cannot help but wonder if Trump has, behind closed doors, pressured Israel to allow for supplies to enter Gaza. In the context of his imminent visit to the region, this gives him an element of credibility with the Arabs.

At least he is not yelling about it.

Is it a moral imperative that we provide for the civilians in Gaza? That is an interesting spin on Israel’s moral conduct in this war. The counterclockwise spin would be that it is patently immoral for Israel to place a higher priority on the enemy’s civilian population than it puts on the safety of its own fighting force. Simply put, ours are more important than theirs.  That the civilian population is there, and we do what we can to circumvent them is enough. Allowing humanitarian aid is not magnanimity, it is detrimental.