THE LONG COLONIAL WAR ON PALESTINE

by Keith Salter

The latest iteration of the long colonial war fought to displace the Palestinians from their homeland is perhaps the most sustained and barbaric phase yet. Israeli bombs persistently rain down upon Palestine. The Israeli Defence Force has hit and destroyed all manner of infrastructure, from apartment blocks to tent encampments, the latter made necessary by the cruel destruction of the former.

Within Gaza, food is scarce. Due to the absence of important civilian infrastructure like administrative buildings that accommodate food distribution hubs, and markets and supermarkets with produce for sale, the daily search for food and cooking ingredients can be a gruelling experience. Of course, all that infrastructure had been in place, until Israel bombed it to smithereens.

The Gaza Strip in July 2025 resembles a battered moonscape. Israeli air and ground assaults have wrecked pretty much everything that once served a useful purpose. Hospitals and clinics, schools and universities, industrial parks and small business, have all been eradicated by extreme force. And yet, the Palestinians stubbornly remain in place, dignified and defiant in the face of bloody conquest. And are boldly aware they are being exterminated for the simple reason that they happen to exist, and have done so since ancient times, upon a patch of land that Israel wants for itself.

Gaza Aid Killings | Al Jazeera

At least 350,000 Palestinians have been killed in this latest phase of the war which began during October 2023. Many of these deaths are the result of mass casualty events caused by Israeli aerial bombardment of civilian areas. Other deaths have occurred due to malnourishment and starvation. And others still have transpired due to sniper rifle fire.

The sniper is more hunter than defender. The aim is far less general and far more selective. The scope allows for the shooter to both personalise and depersonalise the prospective target (a Palestinian) when peering through the lens. The trigger pulled, a round is fired, which speeds at breakneck pace through the air. The bullet will then penetrate the outer contours of the human body and will do so without consent.

The Israeli reliance on sniper fire, on conducting mid-distance single shot executions, resembles the actions of the hunter on safari. With the obvious exception that the quarry is quite human and not a different species at all.

Illustrating this point is a recent occurrence that involved the vicious and indiscriminate shooting of Palestinians who stood in what may be described as a queue for food. These people, amassed in their many thousands and ravaged by the material and psychological effects of war, were hungry and exhausted. Some were suffering from starvation. They simply wanted something to eat. Foreign mercenaries, working with the IDF, shot them as they stood in queue.

Journalist Eva Karene Bartlett writes:

“What is apparently happening is that starved Palestinians, after walking many kilometres to the distribution sites, are then corralled into tight enclosures and fired upon by the “aid” mercenaries.”

Journalist Yaakov Aharon adds:

“Instead of trusted agencies, aid is increasingly provided by American private military contractors, as well as Israeli-backed gangs.”

A closer look at this bloodthirsty affair reveals the absence of both morality and any professional respect for the rules of war. It does seem that this food queue was simply part of a macabre Israeli game, a malicious design to ensnare human prey. It appears the Palestinians were first led to food distribution points by an offer from Israel, and once they attended, were promptly corralled into wire mesh fenced pens, then squeezed unnaturally toward a final choke point, before being crushed in a stampede caused by mass panic, which had been induced by a lethal volley fired from the rifles of touring mercenaries.

Commentary from the Al Jazeera video Gaza Aid Killings provides a description of this June 2025 event:

“People begin gathering around the distribution points from the evening hours – tens of thousands of them. At around 4am, the distribution point signals with a green light via quadcopters: telling people you have only five minutes. Immediately the crowds surge forward in a desperate rush. Then after five minutes, the quadcopters shut off the green light, and gunfire and shelling begin instantly. People start running and fleeing with whatever they can manage to grab. It’s like hell. I spoke to several people who were there. The scene is one of random indiscriminate gunfire from every direction.”

It is boldly apparent to any reasonable person that the long colonial war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people is a war of extermination. It is a war of conquest the Israeli elite believe is necessary and unavoidable due to the tenacious Palestinian refusal to simply give up their homeland to an occupier. The inclusion of foreign mercenaries into the role of executioner is the latest incarnation of Israeli colonial strategy. Mercenaries travel to Israel to kill Palestinians with impunity. And then return to their home countries.

Still images from Gaza Aid Killings | Al Jazeera

References:

Al Jazeera. Gaza Aid Killings. 2025.

Bartlett, Eva Karene. In Gaza and beyond. 2025. (Excellent resource for info on Palestine).

Fisk, Robert. From Beirut to Bosnia. 1993. (Three part documentary series; video on YouTube).

Fisk, Robert. The great war for civilisation. The conquest of the Middle East. London: Harper Perennial, 2006. (Each chapter focuses on a single country. See Palestine).

https://michaelwest.com.au/australians-recruited-for-israels-weaponized-aid-project-in-gaza/

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/07/01/750380/Gaza-Palestine-Israel-aid-sites-GHF-food-UN

https://www.rt.com/news/620793-israel-palestine-aid-trap/