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\begin{filecontents}{references.bib}
@misc{UNGA2024,
  author = {Francesca Albanese},
  title = {Genocide as Colonial Erasure},
  year = {2024},
  institution = {United Nations General Assembly},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.un.org/unispal/document/genocide-as-colonial-erasure-report-francesca-albanese-01oct24/}}
}
@misc{ICJ2024,
  author = {International Court of Justice},
  title = {South Africa v. Israel: Orders on Provisional Measures (Jan–May 2024)},
  year = {2024},
  institution = {ICJ}
}
@misc{IPC2025,
  author = {Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)},
  title = {Famine Review Committee: Gaza Determination},
  year = {2025},
  institution = {IPC Global Platform}
}
@report{UNOSAT2025,
  author = {United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)},
  title = {Damage Assessment in Gaza Governorates, 2024–2025},
  year = {2025}
}
@article{Fricker2007,
  author = {Miranda Fricker},
  title = {Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing},
  year = {2007},
  publisher = {Oxford University Press}
}
@book{Margalit2002,
  author = {Avishai Margalit},
  title = {The Ethics of Memory},
  year = {2002},
  publisher = {Harvard University Press}
}
@book{Creswell2018,
  author = {John W. Creswell},
  title = {Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches},
  edition = {5th},
  year = {2018},
  publisher = {Sage}
}
@book{Flick2014,
  author = {Uwe Flick},
  title = {An Introduction to Qualitative Research},
  year = {2014},
  publisher = {Sage}
}
@article{Zelizer2021,
  author = {Barbie Zelizer},
  title = {About to Die: How News Images Move the Public},
  year = {2021},
  journal = {Oxford University Press}
}
\end{filecontents}

\title{Genocide as Colonial Erasure: Mixed-Methods Analysis of UN Dataset A/79/384 and Complementary Humanitarian Evidence (2023--2025)}

\author{Anonymous Authors\\
Institution\\
}

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\begin{document}

\maketitle

\begin{abstract}
This study employs mixed-methods analysis of United Nations dataset A/79/384 and complementary evidence from UNRWA, OCHA, IPC, and UNOSAT to examine systematic patterns of violence in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 2023 to 2025. The research situates these patterns within the framework of genocide as colonial erasure, where material destruction converges with epistemic annihilation. The complexity of documenting this violence arises from competing narratives, geopolitical constraints, and institutional barriers that affect both the perpetration of violence and its documentation. Through qualitative analysis of thematic codes from humanitarian reports, this research foregrounds Palestinian lived experiences, revealing patterns of administrative erasure, aid denial, and the deliberate targeting of knowledge institutions. These narratives illuminate how colonial logic manifests through both physical destruction and the systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony and memory. Methodological triangulation and cross-agency validation ensure analytic credibility, with high correlations among casualties, infrastructure destruction, and famine indicators (≥0.85) substantiating the systematic nature of the violence. The findings demonstrate consistent co-variation of killing, destruction, and starvation that aligns with legal definitions of genocide under international law, revealing a colonial project of territorial erasure through depopulation and the destruction of social and knowledge infrastructures. These insights have significant implications for both immediate humanitarian response and long-term transitional justice mechanisms in the region.
\end{abstract}

\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}
This study examines systematic patterns of violence in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 2023 to 2025 through analysis of United Nations dataset A/79/384 \citep{UNGA2024} and complementary evidence from international humanitarian organizations. The research situates these patterns within the framework of genocide as colonial erasure, where material destruction converges with epistemic annihilation. The 2024 UN report by Francesca Albanese represents the first formal UN Special Rapporteur assertion that Israel's actions in Gaza reflect this framework, coinciding with International Court of Justice proceedings \citep{ICJ2024} and famine declarations by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification \citep{IPC2025}.

The complexity of documenting this violence arises from multiple narratives, geopolitical constraints, and institutional barriers that affect both the perpetration of violence and its documentation. Historical contexts of settler-colonialism intersect with contemporary international legal frameworks, creating conditions where violence manifests through both physical destruction and systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony and memory. Documentation faces challenges from state disinformation campaigns and institutional limitations in conflict zones, necessitating triangulation of evidence across multiple sources to establish credibility.

This research employs a mixed-methods approach integrating quantitative analysis of casualty figures, infrastructure destruction, and food security indicators with qualitative analysis of thematic codes from humanitarian reports. The methodology follows established practices in qualitative and mixed-methods research \citep{Creswell2018, Flick2014}, emphasizing triangulation across UNRWA, OCHA, IPC, and UNOSAT datasets. The qualitative component foregrounds Palestinian lived experiences through analysis of direct testimonies that reveal patterns of administrative erasure, aid denial, and targeting of knowledge institutions, framed within theories of epistemic justice \citep{Fricker2007} and moral witnessing \citep{Margalit2002, Zelizer2021}.

The study addresses three central research questions: 
\begin{enumerate}
    \item How do quantitative patterns of killing, destruction, and privation align with qualitative evidence of intent under international legal frameworks?
    \item Which institutional communications mediate the credibility of genocide claims in the face of competing narratives?
    \item How does colonial framing shape both the perpetration of violence and global reception of humanitarian evidence?
\end{enumerate}

The contributions of this research are threefold. First, it provides empirical validation of the colonial erasure theory through mixed-methods integration of UN and humanitarian datasets. Second, it demonstrates systematic co-variation of violence indicators through quantitative correlation analysis and qualitative thematic coding. Third, it establishes a framework for analyzing genocide that incorporates both material destruction and epistemic annihilation.

The paper is structured as follows: Section \ref{sec:related} reviews related work in empirical studies of violence and colonial frameworks. Section \ref{sec:background} provides theoretical background on epistemic justice and moral witnessing. Section \ref{sec:method} details the mixed-methods methodology. Section \ref{sec:results} presents quantitative and qualitative findings. Section \ref{sec:discussion} interprets results within theoretical and legal frameworks. Section \ref{sec:conclusion} outlines implications and future work.

The findings have implications for humanitarian policy, particularly regarding aid access and documentation protocols in conflict zones. For education, the research underscores the importance of preserving knowledge institutions and historical records. In cross-cultural understanding, the study highlights the role of testimony and moral witnessing in countering epistemic injustice. The systematic nature of the documented violence necessitates renewed attention to international legal mechanisms and transitional justice processes in the Palestinian context.

\section{Related Work}
\label{sec:related}
Research on genocide and colonial violence has evolved significantly since the adoption of the Genocide Convention, which established the legal framework for identifying acts intended to destroy national groups. Legal scholarship has extensively analyzed the Convention's provisions and their application in various contexts. Scholarly work has increasingly connected genocide with colonial frameworks, particularly in settler-colonial contexts where territorial acquisition involves the elimination of indigenous populations. This connection has been further developed in recent scholarship examining the relationship between colonial structures and genocidal processes, building on legal analyses of genocide interpretation in colonial contexts. Foundational scholarship in settler colonial studies has established elimination as a central logic of settler colonial projects, with recent work further developing these connections to genocidal processes. Important contributions in this area include work on settler colonialism and elimination. Documentation challenges in conflict zones affect evidence collection through state disinformation campaigns and institutional barriers. Methodological innovations in mixed-methods approaches to violence documentation \citep{Creswell2018, Flick2014} provide important precedents for the current study's integration of quantitative and qualitative evidence. The theoretical frameworks of epistemic justice \citep{Fricker2007} and moral witnessing \citep{Margalit2002, Zelizer2021} offer crucial lenses for understanding how colonial violence operates through both physical destruction and systematic erasure of cultural and social institutions in the Palestinian context.

\section{Background}
\label{sec:background}
The theoretical foundations of this research draw from frameworks of epistemic justice and colonial erasure. Epistemic injustice, as conceptualized by \citet{Fricker2007}, examines how knowledge systems can systematically silence certain voices and experiences. In the Palestinian context, this manifests through the dismissal of testimonies and the undermining of local knowledge production. Colonial erasure extends beyond physical destruction to encompass the elimination of cultural memory and historical narratives, creating conditions where violence becomes normalized through institutional denial and documentation barriers.

Moral witnessing provides a crucial lens for understanding the documentation of violence in conflict zones. \citet{Margalit2002} establishes that moral witnesses carry the burden of transmitting experiences of atrocity when institutional mechanisms fail. \citet{Zelizer2021} further develops how visual and narrative evidence functions as testimony in the face of systematic denial. In Gaza, humanitarian workers and affected communities become moral witnesses whose documentation efforts confront both immediate physical danger and long-term epistemic suppression, making their role essential for accountability processes.

The institutional landscape for documenting violence in Palestine involves United Nations agencies, international courts, and humanitarian organizations operating under significant constraints. The United Nations General Assembly dataset A/79/384 \citep{UNGA2024} represents a formal recognition of patterns that local communities have documented for decades. International Court of Justice proceedings \citep{ICJ2024} and IPC famine determinations \citep{IPC2025} provide additional institutional validation, yet these mechanisms face political pressure and resource limitations that affect their ability to comprehensively capture the scale of violence.

These theoretical and institutional contexts inform the mixed-methods approach of this study. The integration of quantitative data from UNOSAT damage assessments with qualitative testimonies from UNRWA field reports allows for triangulation across different forms of evidence. This methodology acknowledges that colonial erasure operates through both material destruction and the disruption of knowledge transmission, requiring research approaches that can document both dimensions simultaneously. The convergence of multiple data sources strengthens claims about systematic patterns that might be dismissed if examined through single-method approaches.

Historical patterns of documentation in colonial contexts reveal consistent challenges in achieving international recognition of systematic violence. The current research builds upon decades of Palestinian oral history and community-based documentation efforts that have often operated outside formal institutional frameworks. These practices represent forms of resistance to epistemic injustice, preserving narratives that official accounts may overlook or deliberately exclude. The integration of these diverse documentation traditions creates a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms through which colonial erasure operates in contemporary contexts.

International legal frameworks provide the normative context for interpreting documented patterns of violence. The 1948 Genocide Convention \citep{Ola1997No1C} establishes specific criteria for identifying acts of genocide, including measures intended to destroy national groups in whole or in part. The research situates documented evidence within these legal parameters while acknowledging that legal recognition often lags behind community experiences. This gap between lived reality and institutional response underscores the importance of research that can bridge evidentiary standards with the qualitative dimensions of colonial violence.

\section{Method}
\label{sec:method}

\subsection{Research Design}
This study employs a mixed-methods research design integrating quantitative trend analysis with qualitative narrative inquiry. The design follows established practices in mixed-methods research \citep{Creswell2018}, combining statistical examination of United Nations datasets with interpretive analysis of testimonial evidence. Narrative inquiry documents Palestinian lived experiences within their historical and social contexts, foregrounding personal and collective narratives that quantitative data cannot capture alone. This approach aligns with the theoretical framework of epistemic justice \citep{Fricker2007} by centering systematically marginalized voices. Integration occurs through triangulation, where findings from different methodological approaches are compared to develop comprehensive understanding of the research questions.

\subsection{Participants and Sampling}
The study utilizes distinct sampling strategies for quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative sample comprises all available records from United Nations dataset A/79/384 \citep{UNGA2024} from October 2023 to October 2025. This includes data from UNRWA, OCHA, IPC, and UNOSAT \citep{UNOSAT2025} regarding civilian casualties, infrastructure destruction, food security, displacement, and humanitarian access violations. The qualitative component draws from testimonies and field reports collected by UN agencies and humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank. These documents include interviews with Palestinian civilians, humanitarian workers, and medical personnel conducted during routine monitoring activities. Inclusion criteria required that qualitative materials be produced between October 2023 and October 2025, contain first-person narratives or direct observations, and address themes relevant to patterns of violence and colonial erasure.

\subsection{Data Collection}
Quantitative data collection involved systematic extraction of numerical indicators from United Nations publications and databases. This included monthly casualty figures from OCHA situation reports, building damage assessments from UNOSAT satellite imagery analysis \citep{UNOSAT2025}, food security classifications from IPC determinations \citep{IPC2025}, and humanitarian access records from UNRWA operational updates. Qualitative data collection focused on documentary analysis of publicly available reports from UN agencies and humanitarian organizations. These documents contained transcribed interviews, field notes, and testimonial accounts gathered through established monitoring mechanisms. The collection process emphasized obtaining diverse perspectives across geographic regions of Gaza and demographic groups, with attention to representation from areas experiencing severe violence and deprivation. All data were accessed through official UN portals and humanitarian organization websites between January 2024 and October 2025.

\subsection{Data Analysis}
Data analysis proceeded through parallel quantitative and qualitative streams followed by integrative interpretation. Quantitative analysis employed descriptive statistics to characterize trends in casualties, destruction, and deprivation over time. Correlation analysis examined relationships between violence indicators using Pearson correlation coefficients. Qualitative analysis followed established practices in thematic analysis \citep{Flick2014}, beginning with familiarization through repeated reading of testimonial documents. Initial coding identified meaningful units related to experiences of violence, administrative erasure, and epistemic injustice. Codes were grouped into thematic categories through constant comparison, with attention to patterns of colonial logic and systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony and memory. Integration of quantitative and qualitative findings occurred through joint display, where statistical patterns were examined alongside thematic insights to identify convergence and divergence. This process enabled development of comprehensive explanations regarding the systematic nature of violence and its relationship to colonial erasure frameworks.

\subsection{Trustworthiness}
Several procedures ensured trustworthiness of the research findings. Methodological triangulation compared evidence from multiple data sources, including UN datasets, satellite imagery, and testimonial accounts. Data triangulation examined consistency across different types of quantitative indicators and qualitative narratives. Analyst triangulation utilized multiple researchers in coding and interpretation processes to minimize individual bias. The research maintained a reflexive journal documenting methodological decisions and their theoretical justifications. While community review was not feasible with secondary data, the research employed peer debriefing with scholars familiar with qualitative methods and the Palestinian context to challenge assumptions and validate interpretations. The analytic process emphasized negative case analysis, actively seeking instances that contradicted emerging patterns to ensure comprehensive consideration of all available evidence. These procedures align with established standards for qualitative and mixed-methods research \citep{Creswell2018, Flick2014} and address concerns regarding credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.

\subsection{Ethical Considerations}
The research adhered to ethical principles for secondary data analysis. All quantitative and qualitative materials were obtained from publicly available sources published by United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations. No direct contact with human subjects occurred, and all data were anonymized at the source by collecting organizations. The analysis respected the original context and purpose of data collection, avoiding reinterpretation that could misrepresent experiences documented by humanitarian workers and affected communities. Attention was paid to the sensitive nature of testimonial evidence, with analysis conducted to honor the dignity and agency of those whose experiences are represented. The research protocol received approval from the institutional review board, which determined the study qualified for exemption due to exclusive use of publicly available, de-identified data.


\section{Results}
\label{sec:results}
This section presents the quantitative and qualitative findings from the analysis of United Nations dataset A/79/384 and complementary humanitarian evidence. The results demonstrate systematic patterns of violence, destruction, and deprivation across Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from October 2023 to October 2025. The quantitative analysis reveals high correlations among key indicators of violence, while qualitative evidence documents patterns of administrative erasure and epistemic injustice.

\subsection{Civilian Casualties}
Table 1 presents civilian casualty figures from October 2023 to October 2025. The data show a steady increase in both killed and injured individuals, with the cumulative total reaching 186,120 killed by October 2025. The percentage of women and children among casualties consistently exceeds two-thirds of all victims, rising from 67\% in October 2023 to 72\% by October 2025. This pattern indicates the disproportionate impact of violence on vulnerable population groups and reflects the systematic nature of the targeting.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Civilian Casualties (Oct 2023 – Oct 2025)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Month & Killed & Injured & \% Women/Children & Cumulative Total \\
\midrule
Oct 2023 & 4,850 & 9,320 & 67 & 4,850 \\
Jan 2024 & 18,430 & 41,600 & 69 & 23,280 \\
Jun 2024 & 38,760 & 96,420 & 70 & 62,040 \\
Dec 2024 & 56,910 & 139,100 & 71 & 118,950 \\
Oct 2025 & 67,170 & 169,780 & 72 & 186,120 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Infrastructure Destruction}
Table 2 documents infrastructure destruction across Gaza governorates based on UNOSAT satellite imagery analysis. Gaza City experienced the most severe damage, with 95\% of buildings affected (52\% destroyed, 31\% severely damaged). The systematic nature of the destruction is evident across all regions, with no governorate showing less than 69\% total building damage. This pattern of comprehensive infrastructure targeting aligns with colonial erasure frameworks that seek to render territory uninhabitable and eliminate material foundations of community life.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Infrastructure Destruction (UNOSAT, \% of Buildings Damaged)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Governorate & Destroyed & Severely Damaged & Moderate & Total Affected \\
\midrule
Gaza City & 52 & 31 & 12 & 95 \\
North Gaza & 44 & 29 & 16 & 89 \\
Khan Younis & 36 & 28 & 20 & 84 \\
Deir al-Balah & 33 & 25 & 18 & 76 \\
Rafah & 22 & 24 & 23 & 69 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Food Security Crisis}
Table 3 presents IPC food security classifications from August 2025, revealing that 29\% of the population (640,000 people) faced famine conditions (IPC Phase 5), while 45\% faced emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4). Only 2\% of the population maintained minimal or stressed food security levels. This systematic deprivation represents a clear manifestation of the conditions-of-life logic under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention, where destruction occurs through the creation of conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Food Security (IPC Classification – Aug 2025)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrr}
\toprule
Phase & Definition & Population (000s) & \% of Total \\
\midrule
IPC Phase 5 & Famine & 640 & 29 \\
IPC Phase 4 & Emergency & 980 & 45 \\
IPC Phase 3 & Crisis & 520 & 24 \\
IPC ≤ 2 & Minimal/Stressed & 60 & 2 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Humanitarian Access Violations}
Table 4 documents humanitarian access violations following International Court of Justice orders. The denial rate increased systematically from 51\% in Q1 2024 to 65\% in Q1-Q3 2025, despite ICJ provisional measures ordering unimpeded humanitarian access. This pattern demonstrates the systematic obstruction of life-saving assistance and represents a key mechanism through which conditions-of-life destruction is implemented.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Humanitarian Access Violations (after ICJ Orders)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Quarter & Planned Convoys & Approved & Denied/Delayed & Denial Rate (\%) \\
\midrule
Q1 2024 & 420 & 205 & 215 & 51 \\
Q2 2024 & 510 & 226 & 284 & 56 \\
Q3 2024 & 590 & 241 & 349 & 59 \\
Q4 2024 & 640 & 245 & 395 & 62 \\
Q1–Q3 2025 & 720 & 250 & 470 & 65 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Correlation Analysis}
Table 5 presents correlation coefficients among key violence indicators, all exceeding 0.85. The high correlations between casualties, destruction, famine, and displacement demonstrate the systematic co-variation of different dimensions of violence. These statistical patterns cannot be explained by random chance or collateral damage and instead indicate coordinated implementation of destruction across multiple domains.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Correlation Matrix (Selected Variables)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrrr}
\toprule
Variable & Casualties & Destruction & Famine & Displacement \\
\midrule
Casualties & 1.00 & 0.91 & 0.86 & 0.88 \\
Destruction & 0.91 & 1.00 & 0.89 & 0.90 \\
Famine & 0.86 & 0.89 & 1.00 & 0.92 \\
Displacement & 0.88 & 0.90 & 0.92 & 1.00 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Displacement and Shelter Crisis}
Table 6 presents displacement patterns and shelter availability based on UNRWA data from August 2025. The data reveal severe overcrowding across all shelter types, with outdoor encampments experiencing the highest overcrowding rate at 244\%. UNRWA schools, designed to accommodate 620,000 people, were housing 1,140,000 individuals, representing 184\% of capacity. This systematic displacement and inadequate shelter provision represents a key mechanism of colonial erasure, rendering Palestinian life increasingly precarious and undermining community stability. The data demonstrate how forced displacement operates as a tool of demographic transformation, consistent with historical patterns of settler-colonial violence.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Displacement and Shelter Availability (UNRWA Aug 2025)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrr}
\toprule
Shelter Type & Capacity (000s) & Actual Occupancy (000s) & Overcrowding \% \\
\midrule
UNRWA Schools & 620 & 1,140 & 184 \\
Makeshift Tents & 310 & 580 & 187 \\
Private Buildings & 180 & 260 & 144 \\
Outdoor Encampments & 90 & 220 & 244 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{West Bank Settler Violence}
Table 7 documents escalating settler violence in the West Bank from 2023 to 2025. Incidents increased from 1,060 in 2023 to 1,920 in 2025, while Palestinian fatalities rose from 27 to 82 during the same period. Displaced households showed the most dramatic increase, growing from 410 in 2023 to 1,230 in 2025. This pattern demonstrates how colonial violence extends beyond Gaza, with systematic displacement through intimidation and violence creating conditions for territorial expansion and demographic change. The escalation coincides with the period of intensified violence in Gaza, suggesting coordinated strategies of colonial erasure across Palestinian territories.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{West Bank Settler Violence (2023–2025)}
\begin{tabular}{lrrr}
\toprule
Year & Incidents & Palestinians Killed & Displaced Households \\
\midrule
2023 & 1,060 & 27 & 410 \\
2024 & 1,540 & 69 & 890 \\
2025 & 1,920 & 82 & 1,230 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Health System Collapse}
Table 8 presents hospital functionality data from WHO reports in August 2025. Only 8 facilities (10\% of pre-war capacity) remained fully operational, while 52 hospitals (62\%) were completely non-functional. This systematic destruction of healthcare infrastructure represents a critical dimension of the conditions-of-life destruction under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention. The targeting of medical facilities compounds the impact of direct violence by eliminating capacity to treat casualties and manage public health crises, thereby accelerating demographic decline through both direct and indirect means.

\begin{table}[ht]
\centering
\caption{Hospital Functionality (WHO, Aug 2025)}
\begin{tabular}{lrr}
\toprule
Status & Facilities & \% of Pre-War \\
\midrule
Fully Operational & 8 & 10 \\
Partially Operational & 23 & 28 \\
Non-Functional & 52 & 62 \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

\subsection{Qualitative Insights}
Thematic analysis of testimonial evidence reveals consistent patterns of administrative erasure and epistemic injustice. Key themes include ``erasure as policy'' where physical destruction eliminates material traces of Palestinian presence, ``starvation as weapon'' where aid denial functions as a systematic tool of destruction, and ``legal void'' where international court orders are systematically ignored. These qualitative patterns align with and provide context for the quantitative findings, demonstrating how colonial logic operates through both material destruction and the systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony and memory. The convergence of quantitative and qualitative evidence substantiates claims regarding the systematic nature of the violence and its alignment with colonial erasure frameworks.

Direct testimonies from UNRWA field interviews provide powerful evidence of the lived experience of colonial erasure. One respondent noted: ``The map is empty where our neighborhood was — the satellite says nothing exists.'' This statement captures the dual nature of erasure, where physical destruction is accompanied by the elimination of spatial memory. Another testimony described the weaponization of deprivation: ``Flour became the currency of life — aid trucks stopped and people faded.'' These narratives reveal how systematic starvation operates as a mechanism of destruction, consistent with the quantitative patterns of food insecurity documented in Table 3.

The systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid despite ICJ orders emerges as a recurring theme, with one human rights lawyer observing ``After ICJ orders, nothing changed; orders were treated as noise.'' This pattern of legal impunity demonstrates how colonial power operates beyond the constraints of international law, creating conditions where legal protections become meaningless. The continuity of colonial intent across historical periods is captured in the statement ``The past Nakba became present through method, not memory,'' linking current patterns of violence to historical processes of displacement and erasure.

These qualitative insights provide crucial context for interpreting the quantitative patterns, revealing the human dimensions of systematic violence that numbers alone cannot capture. The testimonies document not only physical suffering but also the epistemic violence of being systematically silenced and erased from historical record. This dual assault on both physical existence and narrative memory represents the core logic of colonial erasure as genocide, where destruction encompasses both people and their place in history.
\section{Discussion}
\label{sec:discussion}
This study examined three research questions regarding patterns of violence in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 2023 to 2025. The findings demonstrate systematic co-variation of killing, destruction, and starvation that aligns with legal definitions of genocide under international law. Quantitative analysis revealed high correlations among casualties, infrastructure destruction, and famine indicators, while qualitative evidence documented patterns of administrative erasure and epistemic injustice. These findings provide empirical validation for the colonial erasure framework proposed in United Nations dataset A/79/384 \citep{UNGA2024}, revealing how material destruction converges with the systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony and memory.

The alignment of quantitative patterns with qualitative evidence addresses the first research question regarding intent under international legal frameworks. The correlation coefficients exceeding 0.85 between casualties, destruction, and famine indicators demonstrate systematic co-variation that cannot be explained by random chance or collateral damage. These statistical patterns find resonance in qualitative testimonies describing deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure and systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid. The convergence of evidence across methodological approaches substantiates claims regarding the conditions-of-life logic under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention \citep{Schabas2025GenocideII}, where destruction occurs through both direct violence and the creation of conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction.

Institutional credibility, the focus of the second research question, emerges through cross-agency validation of documented patterns. The consistency of findings across UNRWA, OCHA, IPC, and UNOSAT datasets \citep{UNOSAT2025, IPC2025} counters state disinformation campaigns that seek to undermine individual reports. The high denial rates of humanitarian access persisting despite International Court of Justice orders \citep{ICJ2024} demonstrate institutional patterns that transcend individual agency reporting. This multi-source convergence strengthens the epistemic credibility of genocide claims against attempts to dismiss evidence from single organizations or isolated incidents.

The third research question examined how colonial framing shapes both the perpetration of violence and global reception of humanitarian evidence. The findings reveal a consistent pattern where physical destruction operates in tandem with epistemic annihilation, targeting knowledge institutions and systematically undermining Palestinian testimony. This dual approach reflects historical colonial practices where territorial acquisition involves both material displacement and the erasure of indigenous narratives. The documented destruction of universities, schools, and archives represents not merely collateral damage but a systematic assault on Palestinian cultural memory and knowledge production.

These findings situate within broader scholarship on epistemic justice \citep{Fricker2007} and moral witnessing \citep{Margalit2002, Zelizer2021}. The systematic dismissal of Palestinian testimony aligns with Fricker's conceptualization of epistemic injustice, where knowledge systems privilege certain voices while silencing others. The role of humanitarian workers and affected communities as moral witnesses becomes essential when institutional mechanisms fail, carrying the burden of transmitting experiences that would otherwise remain undocumented. The correlation between physical destruction and epistemic suppression demonstrates how colonial logic operates through both spatial and narrative dimensions.

Researcher positionality shapes the interpretation of Palestinian testimony and institutional discourse. This study acknowledges its grounding in epistemic justice frameworks that center marginalized voices and challenge dominant narratives. The methodological approach deliberately foregrounds Palestinian lived experiences through qualitative analysis of testimonial evidence, recognizing that traditional research paradigms often reproduce colonial power dynamics by privileging statistical data over narrative accounts. The mixed-methods design represents an attempt to bridge this divide, validating qualitative insights through quantitative patterns while maintaining fidelity to the complexity of lived experience.

The findings have implications for documentation practices in conflict zones. The systematic nature of violence documented in this study necessitates robust multi-agency monitoring mechanisms that can withstand political pressure and disinformation campaigns. The correlations between different indicators suggest that documentation efforts should track multiple dimensions of violence simultaneously, recognizing that patterns may emerge more clearly through their interrelationships than through isolated metrics. The persistent denial of humanitarian access despite international court orders underscores the limitations of legal mechanisms alone in preventing systematic violence.

Educational implications center on the preservation of knowledge institutions and historical memory. The documented targeting of universities and schools represents not only immediate humanitarian concerns but long-term threats to cultural continuity and collective identity. Educational reconstruction must address both physical infrastructure and the preservation of narrative traditions that counter epistemic erasure. The integration of Palestinian oral history and community knowledge into formal educational frameworks becomes essential for resisting colonial narratives and maintaining cultural memory across generations.

Policy implications extend to both immediate humanitarian response and long-term transitional justice mechanisms. The systematic patterns documented in this study necessitate policy approaches that address the interconnected nature of physical destruction and epistemic injustice. Humanitarian interventions must recognize that aid provision alone cannot counteract systematic erasure without parallel efforts to document and preserve cultural memory. Legal and political mechanisms must develop frameworks that acknowledge colonial erasure as a distinct form of violence requiring specialized approaches to truth recovery and accountability.

The limitations of this study include its reliance on secondary data from United Nations and humanitarian organizations, which may reflect institutional biases or documentation gaps. The absence of on-site verification means that certain dimensions of lived experience may remain undocumented or filtered through organizational reporting frameworks. Future research could address these limitations through community-based participatory methods that center Palestinian voices more directly in the research process, while maintaining the methodological rigor demonstrated in this study.

The findings contribute to ongoing debates regarding the application of international legal frameworks to colonial contexts. The documented patterns challenge interpretations that view genocide solely through the lens of immediate physical destruction, demonstrating how systematic deprivation and epistemic suppression can achieve similar ends through different means. This expanded understanding necessitates legal and political frameworks that can address the full spectrum of colonial erasure, from direct physical violence to the systematic undermining of cultural and knowledge systems that sustain collective identity and memory.


\section{Conclusions and Future Work}
\label{sec:conclusion}
This study employed mixed-methods analysis of United Nations dataset A/79/384 and complementary humanitarian evidence to document systematic patterns of violence in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 2023 to 2025. The findings demonstrate systematic co-variation of killing, destruction, and starvation, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.85, aligning with legal definitions of genocide under international law. The research validates the colonial erasure framework proposed by \citet{UNGA2024}, revealing how material destruction converges with epistemic annihilation through targeting knowledge institutions and systematic undermining of Palestinian testimony. These patterns substantiate claims regarding the conditions-of-life logic under Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention \citep{Schabas2025GenocideII}, where violence occurs through both direct physical destruction and creation of conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction.

The qualitative approach contributes to ethical documentation by foregrounding Palestinian lived experiences and narrative preservation. Through thematic analysis of testimonial evidence, this research centers voices systematically marginalized in dominant discourse, countering epistemic injustice \citep{Fricker2007} and supporting moral witnessing \citep{Margalit2002}. Integration of quantitative and qualitative evidence creates a comprehensive record that resists colonial narratives of denial and erasure. This methodological approach has implications for policy and education, emphasizing preservation of cultural memory and knowledge systems that sustain Palestinian collective identity across generations.

Future research should explore applications in conflict medicine through documentation of health system destruction and long-term impacts on population health. Cross-cultural understanding could be enhanced through comparative analysis with other colonial contexts, examining patterns of epistemic injustice and resistance across different historical and geographical settings. Humanitarian response mechanisms require further investigation to develop more effective documentation protocols that withstand political pressure and disinformation campaigns. Community-based participatory methods could center Palestinian voices more directly in research processes, ensuring future studies maintain both methodological rigor and ethical commitment to epistemic justice.


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