Starvation as a Weapon of Control
Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza has become a strategic and moral minefield. Former British Army officer Andrew Fox explains how what should be a lifeline has instead become a tool of political manipulation.
Hamas has systematically seized humanitarian shipments, diverting aid to resell on the black market or use as leverage to reward loyalty and punish dissent. “For Hamas,” Fox says, “aid is not about saving lives, it’s a tool of control.” Despite reports of starvation, UN data shows that enough food has entered Gaza to meet basic needs. The real issue is distribution: Hamas controls who gets fed.
This created a brutal paradox for Israel: how to fight an enemy while continuing to feed them. Hamas’s war economy thrives on humanitarian aid, selling essentials like flour and fuel to fund its operations. Israel knew supplies were being hijacked but halting them entirely risked global condemnation.
Aid Without Empowering Hamas
In response, Israel partnered with the American NGO Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to launch secure, independently operated aid hubs guarded by the IDF but accessible directly to civilians, bypassing Hamas.
For many Gazans, receiving free aid was astonishing. Under Hamas, even donated goods came at a price. This new system disrupts the regime’s black market by allowing civilians to access supplies without interference.
To safeguard aid integrity, biometric scanning and facial recognition were introduced at distribution sites to identify Hamas operatives. While controversial, the technology aims to sever a key financial lifeline for Hamas.
Unsurprisingly, Hamas responded with violence and propaganda, inciting chaos at aid sites and launching a media campaign to delegitimize the new system. Their goal: to force a return to the old, corrupt status quo where hunger was a weapon.
Strategic Gains Amid Diplomatic Risks
Militarily and economically, Israel’s new strategy is working. Hamas is losing control of Gaza’s aid supply chain, weakening its grip on daily life. Civilians are beginning to question why they were forced to pay for goods meant to be free.
However, this comes at a diplomatic cost. Images of biometric checks and military presence at aid hubs fuel international criticism, even when handing aid back to Hamas was the alternative. Hamas knows it doesn’t need a battlefield victory, only a media win. Every Israeli soldier near aid lines or confrontation is weaponized as propaganda, casting Israel as the oppressor.
Israel hopes for a post-war Gaza that is peaceful and free from Hamas’s control. But while it may win the battle on the ground, it risks losing the war for global opinion. As Andrew Fox warns, Israel’s challenge now goes beyond defeating Hamas militarily. It must also defend the legitimacy of how it does so.
