Michael Gabriel Hernandez
01 May 2024•Update: 02 May 2024
WASHINGTON
Colombia will sever diplomatic relations with Israel due to its "genocidal" war in the besieged Gaza Strip, President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday.
"Here before you, the government of change, the president of the republic, informs you that tomorrow diplomatic relations will be broken with the state of Israel for having a genocidal president. Long live the government of change," Petro told a boisterous crowd of supporters, prompting widespread cheers amid a sea of waving Colombian flags in Bogota's Plaza de Bolivar.
"Those colors could be summarized in a single word. That reblesses, the need for life, the resold one, the flag heals it and the resistance, the word is called 'Gaza,' it is called 'Palestine,' it is called 'the girls, the boys, the babies who died scattered by the bombs,'" he added.
Petro, who had earlier threatened to cut diplomat ties with Israel, was among 18 national leaders that signed on to a US-led statement demanding the release of the roughly 130 hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza following a Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel that killed less than 1,200 people.
The statement demanded the release of the remaining hostages, saying doing so would lead to what they called a "credible end of hostilities."
Israel has for over half a year waged a war on Gaza that has resulted in widespread death and destruction in the coastal enclave.
More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed and over 76,000 injured. The vast majority of the dead have been women and children. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
Israel also is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel's actions amount to genocide, and ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit such acts, and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Colombia has requested to join the case alongside South Africa, which brought it to the UN's top court in the wake of Israel's war. Petro previously suspended weapons sales to Israel.
