Petro earlier accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip (French)

Colombian President Gustavo Petro threatened on Tuesday to sever relations with Israel if it did not comply with the UN Security Council resolution to cease fire in Gaza, while Tel Aviv accused him of supporting the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and described this as a “stain on the forehead of his people.”

Petro said in a post on social media platforms: “If Israel does not comply with the United Nations ceasefire resolution, we will sever diplomatic relations with it,” after the Security Council adopted, for the first time yesterday evening, a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan.

In response to the Colombian president’s threat, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the Colombian president’s support for Hamas “is a disgrace on the forehead of his people, and we will continue to protect our citizens, and will not submit to any pressure,” according to his post on the X platform.

Welcome to our website @petrogustavo.com. Please don't worry about it.


Please don't worry about it.

— Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 26, 2024

The Colombian president previously accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, calling on the world to put an end to the violations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last November, Petro announced that he had summoned his country's ambassador to Israel for consultations in protest against Israeli violations against Palestinians in Gaza.

Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leva also earlier asked the Israeli ambassador in Bogota to apologize and leave the country, after Israeli diplomacy responded to statements by President Petro in which he addressed Israel's war on Gaza.

After that, Israel, which is one of the largest suppliers of weapons to the Colombian army, announced that it would stop exporting security supplies to the Latin American country, and as a result, the Colombian president decided to suspend foreign relations with Israel.

This comes as the occupation army continues its war on Gaza since the seventh of last October, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing, amid a humanitarian situation described as catastrophic and a worsening famine looming over the besieged Strip.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies + social networking sites