Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a staunch critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, said the Israeli government was “genocidal.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced plans to sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its war in the Gaza Strip, which human rights advocates and other experts say could amount to genocide.
Addressing crowds celebrating International Workers’ Day in Bogota on Wednesday, Petro said countries cannot remain passive in the face of the unfolding crisis in Gaza.
“Here, before you, the government of change, of the president of the republic, announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel… to have a government, to have a genocidal president,” Petro said.
A left-wing leader who came to power in 2022, Petro is seen as part of a progressive wave known as the “pink tide” in Latin America. He was one of the the most virulent critics of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.
In October, just days after the conflict began, Israel said it was “cutting off exports of security products” to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of using language similar to what “the Nazis said about the Jews”.
Gallant said the country was fighting “human animals” in Gaza, despite having ordered a total siege of the territory following the deadly attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
A month later, Petro accused Israel to commit “genocide” in the besieged Palestinian enclave, further angering Israeli officials and pro-Israel advocacy groups.
And in February, Colombia suspended Israeli arms purchases after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians scramble for food aid in Gaza – an event that Petro said was “reminiscent of the Holocaust”.
The Colombian president’s comments on Wednesday come amid growing concerns about a possible Israeli ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, which UN chief Antonio Guterres said would mark an “unbearable escalation”.
To date, more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, and the enclave faces a persistent humanitarian crisis, with experts warning of famine.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government on Colombia’s plans to sever diplomatic ties with the country.
Meanwhile, in early April, the Colombian government asked to join a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide.
“Colombia’s ultimate goal in this effort is to ensure the urgent and most comprehensive protection possible for Palestinians in Gaza, particularly vulnerable populations such as women, children, people with disabilities and the elderly,” said the country.
PRESS RELEASE: #Colombia files a declaration of intervention under article 63 of the #ICJ Status in the case relating to the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (#South Africa v. #Israel) https://t.co/rLVf9mjah6 pic.twitter.com/ov1i62FDuW
–CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) April 5, 2024
The highest court of the UN ruled in January that Palestinians faced a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered Israel to prevent such acts.
The UN special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, said at the end of March that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of acts of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza had been reached.”
“The overwhelming nature and scale of the Israeli attack on Gaza and the destructive living conditions it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group,” Albanese said in a report.
Israel has denied accusations of genocide, calling Albanese’s report an “obscene inversion of reality.”
