A/HRC/10/22 page 6 cannot be limited as required by international humanitarian law; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction. Attacks by bombardment which treat a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in an urban area or rural village as a single military objective are prohibited. The prohibition of indiscriminate attacks must not only determine the strategy adopted for a particular military operation but also limit the use of certain weapons in situations where the civilian population will be affected. 14. Second, under the principle of proportionality, attacks on legitimate military objectives which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, are prohibited. 15. Third, the parties to a conflict must take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects. This obligation is twofold. Precautions must be taken when planning and conducting attacks. A number of specific precautionary measures are prescribed by humanitarian law, inter alia, the determination of the military character of the objective and the evaluation of compliance with the principle of proportionality. In addition, parties to a conflict are required to give effective advance warning of attacks, which may affect the civilian population, unless circumstances do not permit. 16. Parties to a conflict must also take precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects under its control from the effects of attacks; this includes avoiding placing military objectives within or near densely populated areas and keeping civilians away from military targets. The use of human shields is also prohibited. Contrary to the general principle of precautions against the effects of attacks, this prohibition must be understood to require the specific intent to use civilians to immunize otherwise legitimate military objectives from lawful attack. 17. A violation of the obligation to take precautionary measures vis-à-vis the civilian population or their use as human shields by one side to a conflict does not change the obligations incumbent on the other party to the conflict to evaluate what constitutes an excessive attack in relation to concrete and direct military advantage.5 18. With regard to the treatment of protected persons in the occupied territories, article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids collective punishment of civilians for crimes they have not personally committed. The provision of assistance to protected persons and civilian property also benefits from specific protections. Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the destruction by the occupying Power of private or public property unless rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. In addition, articles 55 and 59 provide that the occupying Power shall ensure food and medical supplies of the population and at the very least agree to relief schemes on behalf of the population of an occupied territory, and shall facilitate them by 5 Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifies that the presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.