Colombia’s trade minister signed off on a decree to ban coal exports to Israel over its alleged genocide of the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza.
President Gustavo Petro announced the ban in June, claiming that it was a response to an order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent genocide.
According to Colombia’s Trade Ministry, Israel uses Colombian coal for, among other things, its military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 40,000 people since October last year.
The escalation of military actions, the systematic non-compliance with the orders for provisional measures of the International Court of Justice and the worsening of the humanitarian situation constitute a risk to international peace and security and, consequently, is a matter that affects national security.
Trade Ministry
Local media reported that Hamas, which governs Gaza and carried out a deadly attack on Israeli towns in October, thanked Petro for the export ban.
We appreciate Petro’s declaration prohibiting the export of coal to the Zionist entity, and his criticism of the use of coal in the manufacturing of bombs against the children of our people.
Hamas
The decision was opposed by the Colombian Mining Association (ACM) and the Colombo-American Chamber of Commerce.
According to the ACM, the decree is “illegal and unconstitutional,” and “constitutes a serious threat for judicial security and a direct threat to free enterprise and competition.”
Maria Claudia Lacouture, the director of the Colombo-American Chamber of Commerce, said that Colombia can’t afford losing income from foreign trade.
The Israel Electric Corporation said in June that the Asian country “has alternatives” to Colombian coal, the news website Times of Israel reported in June.
More than half of Israel’s coal imports come from Colombia, according to the website.
Petro has been among the most vociferous critics of Israel’s war on Gaza and previously suspended diplomatic relations between Bogota and Tel Aviv.