South Africa condemns Israel’s targeted killing of Palestinian civilians waiting for humanitarian food aid

1 March 2024

South Africa condemns the massacre of 112 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds more as they sought life-saving aid. The Israeli forces fired on hundreds of Palestinian civilians already vulnerable due to the onslaught on Palestinians over the last four months.

This attack comes just days after Israel submitted a report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and to which South Africa is preparing a response to. This latest atrocity is another breach of international law and in breach of the binding provisional orders of the ICJ. Legal remedies are one route to end institutionalised impunity that Israel has enjoyed for decades, which has emboldened them to act in the manner they have been doing on Thursday, 29 February 2024, and for decades before that.

Legal remedies are not sufficient though and the international community must now consider other measures to end the unlawful actions of the Israeli Government. A first step is an unconditional call for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council. An immediate and unconditional call for a ceasefire is now a moral and life-saving necessity.

Issued by DIRCO, 1 March 2024