Structural violence in Gaza: How colonial military doctrine and refugee camp geography enable child casualties
Original framing: “Palestinian child killed by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza” — Middle East Eye
This incident is part of a long-standing pattern of child casualties in colonial and post-colonial conflicts, from the Algerian War to the bombing of Dresden, where civilian deaths were either ignored or justified as necessary for strategic objectives. The Jabalia refugee camp itself was established in 1948 following the Nakba, when over 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced, a precedent that mirrors the creation of other refugee camps like those in Darfur or Myanmar’s Rohingya regions. Historical parallels also include the use of 'human shields' rhetoric to justify civilian harm, a tactic employed in both Iraq and Gaza, which serves to dehumanize entire populations. The framing of this event without historical context obscures its place within a continuum of state-sanctioned violence.
The death of Jihad al-Ghandour is not an isolated tragedy but a symptom of a deeply entrenched system where colonial military doctrine, geopolitical impunity, and the erasure of Palestinian narratives converge to create a cycle of violence.
The historical roots of Jabalia camp as a site of forced displacement, combined with the deliberate design of military tactics to target densely populated areas, reveal a structure where civilian casualties are not accidental but structurally inevitable. Marginalized voices—from Palestinian families to Israeli dissenters—expose the shared trauma of occupation, while cross-cultural and Indigenous perspectives underscore the global ethical failure to protect the vulnerable. The trickster lens cuts through the solemnity of geopolitical discourse to reveal the absurdity of a system that permits such violence, demanding accountability where none exists. Solutions must address the root causes: international tribunals to enforce accountability, civilian protection zones to disrupt military tactics, trauma recovery programs to heal communities, and a global campaign to reform military doctrines. Without these systemic interventions, the cycle of violence will persist, with children like Jihad bearing the brunt of a world that has failed to prioritize their protection.