Humanitarian aid designed to relieve suffering in war zones can instead prolong the very conflicts it aims to resolve, according to new research from Hebrew University.

Law professor Netta Barak-Corren and Dr. Jonathan Boxman analyzed prolonged crises in Somalia, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Gaza.

Their peer-reviewed study, published Tuesday in the Social Science Research Network, concludes that aid diversion is not an occasional mishap but a structural flaw in the current humanitarian system.