Colombia threatens to break ties with Israel if it doesn't comply with a UN cease-fire resolution
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has threatened to break off diplomatic ties with Israel if the country doesn't comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday threatened to break off diplomatic ties with Israel if the country doesn't comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Petro made the announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Monday, he published another message in which he celebrated the resolution’s approval and urged other nations to suspend ties with Israel if it doesn't cease its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 32,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry replied to Petro’s threat on Tuesday with a tweet, which said that the Middle Eastern nation will “continue to protect its people and will not give in to any pressures and threats.”
The foreign ministry accused Petro of being a “supporter of Hamas terrorists” who massacred children and women during an Oct. 7 raid on Israeli communities that unleashed the current invasion of Gaza, and said that Petro’s stance is a “disgrace to the Colombian people.”
The confrontation on X signals a growing deterioration in the relations between both nations, which have gone from being military and commercial partners, to becoming bitter ideological rivals.
For decades, Colombia used Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups, and both countries signed a free trade agreement in 2020.
But relations began to cool in 2022, when Petro was elected to office.
Petro, a
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