Israel condemns Colombia’s diplomatic rupture: ‘Petro supports humanity’s most despicable monsters’

Hours after the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petroinform that your country will break diplomatic relations with Israel As of this Thursday, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, reacted by accusing the Colombian of “rewarding the assassins of the Hamas” when announcing the rupture of diplomatic relations with Israel due to the military offensive in Gaza. “The Colombian president had promised to reward the murderers and rapists of Hamas and today he fulfilled it”, he stated on his account on X (formerly Twitter), adding that “history will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to support the most despicable monsters that humanity has ever known” . This Wednesday, Petro called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “genocidal” and relied on this criticism to break ties with Israel. “Tomorrow diplomatic relations with the State of Israel will be severed […] for having a genocidal prime minister”, said the leftist leader, defender of the Palestinian cause, in a speech to his followers in Bogotá. Petro has repeatedly criticized the Israeli Army’s response in the Gaza Strip following attacks by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in October 2023 on Israeli territory.

“The times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people before us, cannot come,” added the president in Plaza de Bolívar, in the center of the capital, where he received thousands of his supporters. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies,” he said amid shouts of support. The conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, when commandos from the Islamic group killed 1,170 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped around 250 in southern Israel. Israeli authorities estimate that 129 people remain in captivity in Gaza, of whom 34 have died. Israel’s military response to the attack left more than 34,000 people injured, most of them civilians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Bolivia, also governed by the left, and Belize previously broke ties with Israel. Although Israel is one of the largest suppliers to the Colombian Armed Forces, Petro decided in February to suspend the purchase of its weapons. Israeli-made aircraft, in particular, played a key role in the Colombian state’s war against various guerrillas and drug cartels. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez said this week that the government is already looking for alternatives to supply the security forces. Petro frequently exchanges barbs with Ambassador Dagan on social media, in what has become a repetitive exchange of criticism. The Colombian government guarantees that it supports any decision that leads to a ceasefire between the parties to the conflict. On Wednesday, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, visiting Tel Aviv, said that the United States is determined to achieve a truce between Israel and Hamas now.

*With information from AFP