Colombia cuts ties with Israel over Gaza
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday that Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose leader he described as “genocidal” in its war in Gaza.
“Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed ... for having a genocidal president,” Petro told a May Day rally in Bogota — referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Petro has been a harsh critic of the assault on Gaza that followed an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in the deaths of some 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Hamas militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 Israel says are presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
On Wednesday, Petro told thousands of supporters that the world cannot accept “genocide, the extermination of an entire people.”
“If Palestine dies, humanity dies,” he said to loud applause from the crowd, some of whom flew proPalestinian banners.
Israel responded by describing Petro as “antisemitic and hateful” and saying his stance amounted to handing a reward to Hamas.
“The Colombian president has promised to reward Hamas murderers and rapists — and today he delivered,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.
“History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to stand by the most despicable monsters humanity has known, who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians,” Katz added.