Geographies of the blackout: Infrastructural violence and spatial isolation in besieged Gaza

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the spatial, social, and psychological impacts of systematic internet and electricity blackouts imposed on the besieged population of Gaza. Through 30 in-depth interviews with displaced residents in Rafah and Jabalia, the research evaluates these blackouts as acts of infrastructural violence and settler colonialism. Rather than passive consequences of war, the findings demonstrate that digital blockades operate as deliberate strategies of territorial and demographic control. Participants describe how the forced severance of telecommunications dismantles essential bonds of care, immobilizes bodies, obstructs humanitarian relief, and enforces severe spatial isolation. The testimonies reveal how the deprivation of connectivity is weaponized to inflict psychological trauma, transforming the basic human need for communication into a hazardous pursuit of survival. By situating these lived experiences within broader geographies of communication, the analysis illustrates that digital deprivation in Gaza reflects wider global patterns where warfare relies on severing contact to amplify civilian suffering. This study conceptualizes enforced digital isolation as an architecture of collective punishment, highlighting the urgent need to recognize infrastructural blockades as central tools of modern subjugation.