Israel’s military occupation of Palestine relies heavily on controlling what Palestinians and others in the occupied territory can see and how they are perceived. Despite this, a comprehensive theoretical framework connecting violent occupation and visual violence remains underdeveloped. This analysis contends that a distinct visual architecture underpins and perpetuates the occupation, shaping what is seen and how it is interpreted.
The concept of “visual necropolitics” is introduced as a critical lens to examine how visual violence functions within colonial occupations, building upon existing theories of biopower, necropolitics, and visual governance. It suggests that visual violence operates as a mechanism for defining who is permitted to live freely and who is relegated to the margins as the “other,” effectively legitimizing their subjugation. Rather than viewing visual violence solely as a tactic employed to enforce the occupation, the analysis positions it as an intrinsic component of the occupation itself one without which the occupation could not persist. By framing visual violence as a structural element, the study underscores the necessity of understanding the visual dimension as a foundational aspect of the mechanisms sustaining the occupation.
The terms necropolitics and necropower were coined by Achille Mbembe in 2003 as:
[…] Account for the various ways in which, in our contemporary world, weapons are deployed in the interest of maximum destruction of persons and the creation of death-worlds, new and unique forms of social existence in which vast populations are subjected to conditions of life conferring upon them the status of living dead.
Achille Mbembe, 2003
Necropolitics, a term often considered an extension of Michel Foucault’s concepts of biopower and biopolitics, delves into how political power controls life and death. Foucault first introduced biopolitics in his 1976 work, The Will to Knowledge: The History of Sexuality Volume I, where he explores how sovereignty is expressed through the right to decide who lives and who dies, employing governmental interventions and regulatory mechanisms to control bodies. Achille Mbembe expands upon Foucault’s framework to examine how late-modern colonial powers employ necropolitics to regulate life and death, focusing on the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Mbembe argues that colonial control over life and death is manifested through a state of siege that justifies violence against Palestinians, framing them as perpetual threats. Israeli military practices, such as the regulation of travel permits, control of essential services, and unchecked military discretion, illustrate how necropolitical power is wielded to maintain domination.
The deliberate targeting of essential infrastructure, including facilities vital for life support and medical treatment, has left Palestinians with visual impairments unable to access necessary care, perpetuating their ocular disabilities. This strategy, a critical aspect of the broader biopolitical control exerted over Gaza and the West Bank, has effectively weaponized the foundations of daily life, turning infrastructure into both a target and a tool of coercion.
Visual necropolitics explores how visual regimes systematically subjugate populations to death and exploitation. Palestinian lives are rendered precarious through visual violence, creating deathscapes where individuals are suspended between life and death. According to Mbembe and Puar, the act of injuring, rather than killing, Palestinians serves as a mechanism to maintain their debilitated state while justifying such violence as a form of non-lethal control. The use of “less-lethal” weapons, such as rubber-coated bullets, sponge-tipped bullets, and tear gas canisters, has become a defining tactic in Israeli crowd control measures. Despite being banned for use within Israel after the Or Commission’s 2000 report, these weapons continue to be deployed in occupied Palestinian territories, leading to severe injuries, particularly targeting the eyes. Medical reports highlight the use of these weapons to maim rather than to neutralize threats, exacerbating long-term visual impairments.
During Gaza’s “Great March of Return” from 2018 to 2019, dozens of Palestinians were shot in the eyes by Israeli forces, leading to permanent blindness. Physicians for Human Rights reported that eye injuries were not collateral damage but a deliberate strategy to incapacitate and terrorize. Cases documented by Agence France-Presse and UN agencies underscore how the targeting of eyes functions as a tactic to obstruct the ability to witness and resist state violence, effectively silencing dissent. The political implications extend beyond individual injuries. Reports from Gaza indicate that access to ocular treatment and medical equipment is systematically restricted, leaving those with eye injuries without adequate care. A testimonial from Breaking the Silence details how the Shin Bet blocked necessary medical supplies, using security concerns as justification.
I had requests for equipment for an eye hospital which would have prevented entry of Palestinians into Israel and their exit into Jordan because you could do eye treatment, eye surgery in the Strip, and people wouldn’t need to leave, so this would also supposedly benefit the Shin Bet to approve things like that, it would save them work, but they don’t do it, because “you can’t bring things into Gaza because it’s too scary, because I don’t want to take responsibility for saying yes.” What if someone in Hamas finds a way to use an eye laser surgery machine for a cool, more developed missile? The Shin Bet’s position is to say no, we don’t want to. The Shin Bet can explain to you why a disposable plastic cup can be used for terrorist objectives. That’s all the Shin Bet is interested in, to prevent terrorism, that’s the Shin Bet’s mission. It’s not interested in what’s happening in Gaza. If a thousand people die every day, that doesn’t interest it.
Anonymous Palestinian Soldier, 2017
The portrayal of Palestinian deaths as “telegenic” reflects the Israeli state’s control over visual narratives. The 2014 killing of four Gazan boys playing on a beach highlighted how images of dead Palestinian children circulated globally, challenging Israeli narratives. Two analysts argue that such images disrupt the Israeli state’s efforts to dehumanize Palestinians, forcing the world to see them as victims rather than mere abstractions. An analyst emphasizes that the intentional maiming of Palestinians, particularly through eye injuries, serves to reduce them to bodies without agency, rendering them as surfaces to be manipulated and controlled. This dehumanization not only undermines their capacity to resist but also facilitates ongoing colonial occupation by denying them the right to witness and document their own suffering.
Beyond targeting the living, the Israeli state exerts necropolitical control by withholding Palestinian bodies killed by its forces. Human Rights Watch reports that since 2015, the bodies of 81 Palestinians have been held, denying families the ability to conduct proper funerals and rituals. This practice, which began in 1967, contravenes the Geneva Convention’s requirement for honorable burials and underscores how the occupation extends into death, using the dead as political instruments to further subjugate the living. By manipulating who is allowed to grieve and how, the Israeli state maintains control over Palestinian narratives, restricting the visibility of death and thereby dictating how Palestinian lives and deaths are perceived by global audiences.