Bogota. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has welcomed the recent United Nations resolution for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza: “Finally, the UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza,” posted Petro on the online platform X. “If Israel breaks the ceasefire, I invite the countries of the world to break off diplomatic relations with this country,” the president added.
In any case, Colombia will break with Israel if its government opposes the UN decision, quit Petro in a later posting.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticized Petro’s announcement. He interpreted it as support “for the murderers of Hamas, who have committed massacres and terrible sexual crimes against babies, women and the elderly.” On X, Katz called Petro’s statement “a disgrace to the Colombian people.”
The Foreign Ministry shared “Colombia’s position should not be misunderstood as support for terrorism, but on the contrary as a call to comply with the mandates of the Charter and of the international community, as expressed in the resolution adopted by the Security Council.”
Petro’s posts refer to the UN Security Council’s first ceasefire resolution since October 7. 14 of the 15 members of the UN body voted for the resolution; the USA abstained. The requested ceasefire should lead to a “permanent and sustainable ceasefire”, is called it in the resolution. The UN Security Council also calls for the release of all hostages.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry also commented on the UN resolution in a communiqué: “Our country’s foreign policy works for peace beyond our borders, which is why we welcome the adoption of the resolution.” Colombia agrees with the call to “expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip and strengthen their protection” and to “remove all obstacles to the provision of large-scale humanitarian assistance.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, the Colombian government is “closely monitoring” the situation in Gaza and hopes “for a fundamental solution that will stop the genocide and address the humanitarian crisis in the region,” the statement continued.
Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Israel have been tense for months. In early November, Petro recalled Ambassador Margarita E. Manjarrez Herrera to Israel for consultations. “If Israel doesn’t stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we can’t stay there.”
Petro had called on the UN to recognize Palestine as a state. The Arab country had already received this recognition from Colombia in 2018 under the then government of Juan Manuel Santos.
Other Latin American countries also welcomed the UN Security Council resolution. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez spoke of the need for a permanent ceasefire. Chile’s President Gabriel Boric also supported the resolution and affirmed “the need to advance the two-state solution so that Palestine and Israel can live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders.”