President Gustavo Petro threatened to cut diplomatic ties with the government of Israel after the latter suspended military exports to Colombia.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced the suspension of “security” exports in response to Petro’s opposition to alleged crimes against humanity committed by Israel’s security forces in illegally occupied territories.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas more than a week ago in response to an attack by the Palestinian armed group that left more than 1,400 people dead, according to Tel Aviv.
More than 2,700 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by retaliatory missile attacks on the occupied region in southwestern Palestine.
Petro compared the Gaza Strip to concentration camps where Nazis killed millions of Jews during World War II and condemned the “genocide” of Palestinian civilians in a flurry of social media posts.
According to Israeli spokesperson Lior Haiat, Petro’s statements “reflect support for the atrocities committed by the Hamas terrorists, fuel anti-Semitism, affect Israel State representatives and threaten the peace of the Jewish community in Colombia.”
“As an initial measure, Israel decided to suspend security exports to Colombia,” said Haiat.
Israel has long sold unassembled Galil rifles to Colombia’s state-run military industry factory Indumil.
In a response, Petro said that “if we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we will suspend them. We don’t support genocides.”
The president asked other Latin American governments for solidarity and asked the people of Israel to support peace.
The tension with Colombia are part of Tel Aviv’s diplomatic offensive to seek international support for its attempt to militarily “demolish” Hamas.
The ongoing war put the Middle East on the “verge of the abyss,” according to the United Nations.