BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday introduced his govt will destroy diplomatic family members with Israel efficient Thursday in the most recent escalation of tensions between the nations over the Israel-Hamas conflict.Petro once more described Israel’s siege of Gaza as “genocide.” He prior to now suspended purchases of guns from Israel and in comparison that nation’s movements in Gaza to these of Nazi Germany.“The next day to come, diplomatic family members with the State of Israel will likely be damaged … for having a genocidal president,” Petro stated all over an World Employees’ Day march in Colombia’s capital. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we aren’t going to let it die.”Israel’s Overseas Minister Israel Katz briefly rebuked Petro’s feedback at the platform X.“Historical past will remember the fact that Gustavo Petro determined to facet with probably the most despicable monsters recognized to mankind who burned small children, murdered kids, raped ladies and abducted blameless civilians,” he stated.
Weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel that sparked the present conflict in Gaza and killed some 1,200 other people, Petro recalled Colombia’s ambassador to Israel as he criticized the rustic’s army offensive.
Traditionally, Colombia have been considered one of Israel’s closest companions in Latin The usa. However family members between the 2 international locations have cooled since Petro was once elected as Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022.
Colombia makes use of Israeli-built warplanes and gadget weapons to battle drug cartels and rise up teams, and each nations signed a loose business settlement in 2020.“Family members between Israel and Colombia at all times had been heat and no antisemitic and hate-filled president will achieve converting that,” Katz wrote Tuesday. “The state of Israel will proceed to shield its voters with out fear and with out concern.”The South American nation deepened its army ties with Israel within the overdue Eighties by way of buying Kfir fighter jets that had been utilized by Colombia’s air power in a large number of assaults on far off guerrilla camps that debilitated the Modern Armed Forces of Colombia. The assaults helped push the crowd into peace talks that led to its disarmament in 2016.Petro participated in Wednesday’s march in Bogota to advertise his proposed well being care, pension and exertions reforms.
