Before the genocide unfolding in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian society was among the most educated and disciplined in the Arab world.

The illiteracy rate was among the lowest globally and, despite years of blockade, civil life in Gaza maintained a cohesive institutional structure, governed by laws, and rooted in values of education, order, solidarity and national belonging.

However, since the outbreak of the Israeli war on 7 October 2023, and with the escalation of systematic genocide by Israeli forces, the destruction has gone far beyond physical devastation, civilian deaths and starvation. It has morphed into a deliberate effort to dismantle the social fabric of Palestinian society and reshape its consciousness, or rather, to “burn it out”, with the aim of eroding collective values, replacing structure with chaos and solidarity with selfishness.

Hunger as a weapon of consciousness manipulation

Among the most insidious tools of the occupation in this campaign to re-engineer collective awareness is the strategic use of starvation, not merely as a means of physical annihilation, but as a psychological weapon to induce deep behavioural changes.

The Israeli occupation imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, cutting off food, water and medicine, and severely restricting humanitarian aid. When the hunger reached unprecedented levels and people began dying of starvation, Israel allowed limited humanitarian assistance to trickle in, but only under chaotic, unprotected and unregulated conditions.

The resulting desperation forced people to scramble and fight for basic sustenance. This was never about easing famine, but about altering the very character of society, turning an educated, orderly community into one governed by primal survival instincts. In doing so, the occupation dismantles collective awareness, reducing individuals to creatures driven only by instinct, divorced from the values that once defined Gaza: co-operation, dignity and resilience.

Reducing humans to bare biology

In this climate of extreme deprivation, Palestinian humanity has been stripped down to a single instinct: survival. People no longer prioritise education, rebuilding their homes, or even protecting their families. Their sole objective becomes acquiring a piece of bread or a bottle of water, even if by force.

Israel actively prevents any local entity from organising aid distribution, targeting those who attempt to establish fair systems. This institutional vacuum breeds chaos and aggression, not by choice, but by brutal necessity, as the basic pillars of society collapse and no safe spaces remain.

Shrinking space, amplifying social friction

Another method used to erode communal cohesion is geographic constriction. After taking control of more than 80% of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military has pushed millions into an extremely small and suffocating area.

This spatial reduction results in intense overcrowding and total loss of privacy. Thousands of families are crammed into tents that barely touch the ground, living without sanitation, electricity or medical care. The spread of disease and tension in such environments creates a breeding ground for interpersonal conflict, social breakdown and psychological distress.

In such settings, it is natural for collective consciousness to deteriorate. Self-preservation overrides communal concern, and without psychological or social safety, internal crises spiral uncontrollably.

Media as psychological warfare to undermine national belonging

Israel’s war is not confined to bombs and bullets, it is also a psychological and media war designed to fracture identity and manipulate emotions.

The Israeli propaganda machine produces targeted content aimed at Gaza’s society, attempting to instill resentment toward the homeland itself. Carefully crafted clips show Israeli soldiers speaking Arabic, using Palestinian proverbs and feigning compassion for civilians, in an attempt to recast the executioner as a benevolent figure.

Simultaneously, they highlight the contrast between suffering Palestinians in Gaza and their relatives abroad living more comfortably. The implicit message is clear: your homeland is your misery and salvation lies in detachment from it. This is a calculated effort to uproot national identity and turn a once unifying symbol, the homeland, into a source of personal torment.

Targeting education: erasing tools of consciousness formation

In tandem with starvation, spatial compression and media manipulation, Israel is waging a brutal war on education, one of the most vital tools for cultivating awareness and building human agency. Education in Palestinian collective memory is not just a ladder for social mobility, but a quiet act of resistance, a means of holding onto identity.

Since the beginning of the war, hundreds of schools and universities have been bombed, repurposed into unsafe shelters, or turned into military zones. Educational institutions no longer symbolise growth, but have become sites of death, fear, and displacement. As a result, education is now seen by many families not as a right but as a luxury they can no longer afford amid starvation and violence.

More dangerous than destroying school buildings is emptying consciousness itself. When children are barred from classrooms, when the image of the teacher is shattered, when young generations are cut off from their language, history and geography, critical thinking and intellectual independence are gradually erased.

Israel takes this further by directly targeting Palestinian educational curricula, especially topics related to land, identity, the Nakba and resistance. This creates a generational rupture in cultural and historical continuity.

The fallout: children as victims of consciousness engineering

In the absence of education, children become the most vulnerable targets of all the aforementioned tools. Deprived of learning, structure and safe environments, they are pushed down destructive paths.

Instead of holding books, many are forced to carry bags of bread through scenes of carnage, or to labour under the sun just to survive. Some fall into petty theft, others are recruited into criminal networks or radicalised groups. Still more drift into drug use and addiction.

Thus, the generation deprived of schooling becomes a layered victim, of occupation, poverty and a broken society that can no longer protect or guide them. Tragically, it is the very occupier who bombed their schools that later tells the world: “Look how ignorant and violent they are”, omitting the fact that it created this crisis.

Long-term consequences: a society rewired for collapse

The danger of these Israeli policies lies not only in their immediate impact but in their long-term societal consequences. If Israel succeeds in normalising chaos, division, selfishness and mistrust, it would have struck a fatal blow to the foundational strength of Palestinian society, its collective consciousness.

What the occupation fears most is not Palestinian military strength, but its internal cohesion, intellectual clarity and moral infrastructure. This is why the most devastating aspect of Israel’s actions is not the physical death toll, but the slow assassination of a people’s spirit.

What can be done?

Resisting this systematic destruction of consciousness requires co-ordinated Palestinian, Arab and international efforts. Locally, initiatives that revive collective values, strengthen social solidarity, create safe spaces for dialogue and restore civil organisation, even minimally, must be supported.

In the media realm, counter-narratives that expose Israeli manipulation and amplify the voices of Palestinians who remain steadfast in their identity must be promoted. Internationally, these tactics must be exposed and prosecuted as crimes against humanity, no less reprehensible than physical genocide.

Conclusion

What Israel is doing in Gaza goes beyond killing bodies; it is an attempt to destroy the Palestinian person at their core. The goal is to turn them into beings without dignity, identity or hope. The resistance to this lies in rebuilding consciousness and, ultimately, the rebuilding of the human being, despite all the pain.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.