Gustavo Petro
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro announced Wednesday that it will cut diplomatic ties with Israel, whose leader he labeled as genocidal in its Gaza war.
Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Petro said, “Thursday diplomatic relations with the state of Israel severed… for having a genocidal president”.
The Colombian President has been a harsh critic of the assault on Gaza, which followed an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,170 people.
Hamas militants also abducted approximately 250 hostages, 129 of whom are still in Gaza, including 34 Israel believes are dead.
According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 individuals in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Petro addressed thousands of supporters that the world could not accept genocide, the extermination of an entire people.
“If Palestine dies, humanity dies”, Petro remarked.
Israel responded by calling Petro ‘anti-Semitic and hateful’ and claiming that his actions amounted to an award for Hamas.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted, “The Colombian president has promised to reward Hamas murderers and rapists — and today he delivered”, through his official ‘X’ handle.
Katz went on to say, “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”.
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