More governments issued condemnations on Friday after the deadly melee around an aid convoy in northern Gaza, where dozens of Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces opened fire in an incident whose exact details remain unclear.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called the deaths “horrific” and called for an urgent investigation. “This must not happen again,” he said in a statement that highlighted the insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians and demanded that Israel open more aid crossings, speed up deliveries and increase protections for ordinary Palestinians, NGOs, doctors and others who provide help.
Mr Cameron also called for an immediate end to the fighting. “A prolonged pause in the fighting is the only way to get life-saving aid on the scale that is needed and to free the hostages being held tightly by Hamas,” he said.
The Indian government said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked at the loss of life in northern Gaza yesterday during the delivery of humanitarian aid.”
“Such civilian casualties and the wider humanitarian situation in Gaza continue to cause extreme concern,” it said. “We reiterate our call for safe and timely delivery of humanitarian aid and assistance.”
South Africa, whose government has been highly critical of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, said it “condemns the massacre” of people “as they sought lifesaving assistance”. The people who came under fire, South Africa said in a statement issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, were “already vulnerable due to the attack on Palestinians over the past four months.”
The International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, heard arguments in January in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a charge Israel strongly denies. The court ordered Israel to take steps to prevent the genocide and increase aid to Gaza, and last week Israel submitted a report to the judges on the steps it was taking to do so. The report has not been made public.
An Israeli army spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said Thursday’s convoy was part of several days of humanitarian operations to distribute food supplies to Gaza, overseen by Israeli troops.
On Thursday, other countries and organizations condemned the killings, including Saudi Arabia, the U.N. secretary general of Oxfam and the Israeli rights organization B’Tselem. A State Department spokesman said the United States would “press for answers” from Israel about the killings.
South Africa’s statement on Friday said the killings showed that “legal means are insufficient” to end atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza, and the country called on the international community to “consider other measures to end the illegal actions of the Israelis.” government”.
“An immediate and unconditional call for a ceasefire is now a moral and life-saving necessity,” the statement concluded.
The Brazilian government said the shootings underlined that Israel’s “military action in Gaza has no moral or legal limits. “It is up to the international community to stop it, and only then will we avoid new atrocities,” she said in a statement. “Every day we hesitate, more innocent people will die.”
Esther Bidliff and Jack Nikas contributed to the report.
