Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday his government would sever diplomatic relations with Israel Thursday in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Speaking at a march in the Colombian capital, Bogota, Petro described Israel’s leadership as “genocidal.”
“If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die,” Petro said.
His comments drew a quick response from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who called Petro’s decision a gift to Hamas.
“History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians,” Katz said on X.
As Israel prepares for a planned military operation in Rafah, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by telephone Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Austin “stressed the need for any potential Israeli military operation in Rafah to include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians and maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.”
Austin also reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s defense, as well as a “commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages and conveyed the importance of increasing the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza to flood the zone, while ensuring the safety of civilians and aid workers.”
The discussion followed a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel amid efforts to resolve details of an elusive bid for a cease-fire.
Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, as well as families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken “emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a cease-fire.”
The militants so far have refused to accept a plan calling for a several-week halt in nearly seven months of warfare, along with Hamas failing to free hostages it is holding in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Israel launched a campaign to eliminate the Hamas militant group after the Hamas attack on Israel in October that killed 1,200 people.
Hamas also took about 250 hostages during the attack, and it is believed to still be holding about 100, along with the remains of 30 or more hostages who have either been killed or otherwise died in the ensuing months.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,500 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
