Pretoria – The South African government says it is “gravely alarmed” by reports confirming that “at least 31 Palestinians were killed and over 200 injured today, 1 June 2025, near an aid distribution point in Rafah, Southern Gaza”.
In a statement made available to The Bulrushes, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said: “Eyewitnesses and medical personnel attest that Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of desperate civilians seeking to access humanitarian aid”.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said many victims were shot in the head and chest.
“This atrocity is a stark reminder of the catastrophic and dire conditions under bombardment and siege in Gaza, where access to food and essential aid remains perilous and has become a matter of life and death,” the department said.
“South Africa joins the global call for an immediate, impartial international investigation and reiterates that Israel, as the occupying power, bears legal responsibility under international humanitarian law for the protection of civilians and to ensure safe access to aid.”
The department said the targeting, killing, and injuring of vulnerable civilians are in grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and incompatible with the principles of international humanitarian law and, accordingly, demand urgent scrutiny.
“This tragedy has further intensified scrutiny of the ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ (GHF) and South Africa further joins calls against the GHF, a private initiative that entrusts the distribution of aid to military personnel rather than impartial humanitarian actors,” the department said.
“This scheme is fundamentally at odds with the core principles of international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which mandate that humanitarian relief operations must observe the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.
“We condemn in particular, the deliberate marginalisation of established aid agencies, most notably the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which has served as the primary agency responsible for the humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees for over 75 years.”
Discrediting or dismantling UNRWA’s operations – while replacing it with politicised and militarised alternatives – further entrenches a system of collective punishment and deepens the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s most authoritative source on food insecurity, has warned of an imminent risk of famine, stating that one in five Gazans is likely to face starvation in the coming weeks.
The department said these statements reveal a strategy to use starvation as a weapon of war, a practice that is expressly prohibited under international humanitarian law, including under Article 54 of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.
“Under no circumstances may an occupying power use siege or blockade to collectively punish a civilian population, nor may it deny humanitarian relief to protected persons,” said the department.
“The amplified international voices by initiatives such as the EU’s vote to review trade relations with Israel, the Madrid and Hague Groups, bear testimony to Israel’s continued violation of international law and its obligations under the Geneva Convention.
“South Africa further recalls that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its ongoing case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide against Israel, has issued three rounds of binding provisional measures aimed at halting irreparable harm to the Palestinian population.
“These have included specific instructions for the unhindered provision of humanitarian aid, all of which have been flagrantly defied by Israeli authorities.”
South Africa called on all states, institutions and civil society across the globe to demand immediate, unconditional and sustained humanitarian access to Gaza; reinforce the mandate and funding of UNRWA and other neutral aid organisations; hold Israel legally accountable for its violations of international law, including through the ICJ, ICC, and domestic jurisdictions exercising universal jurisdiction; and take concrete steps to end the blockade, protect civilians and restore the rule of international law in Gaza.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, stated: “All camouflaged behind the language of aid, to divert international attention from legal accountability, in Israel’s attempt to dismantle the very principles upon which humanitarian law was built.”
The department said South Africa aligns itself with the comments above of the UN Special Rapporteur.
“What transpired in Gaza today is not a tragic anomaly – it is a direct consequence of the ongoing bombardment, siege, occupation and collective punishment of Gaza’s people,” said the department.
“We further concur with the UN Special Rapporteur that “Accountability can no longer be deferred.
“The UN and States need urgently to establish an independent protection mechanism that Israel shall not stop – it has no sovereignty over the occupied territory, and it is about time States implement it.
“We call on the international community to amplify calls on ending the cycle of violence and the dehumanisation of a population.
“The time for moral and legal clarity is now.”
The department said the international community must act decisively to prevent further loss of life and uphold the protections due to civilians under the Geneva Conventions and international law.
