Colombia’s left-wing president refuses to condemn Hamas terror, claims besieged Gaza Strip is being ‘converted into a concentration camp.’
By World Israel News Staff
A diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Israel worsened this week, after the South American country’s president launched into a diatribe comparing the Jewish state’s ongoing war against Hamas to Holocaust atrocities committed by the Nazis.
Left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro was vocal about his opposition to Israel’s military response following the deadliest terror attacks in the country’s history, perpetrated by Hamas.
Without condemning the terror group, Petro released a statement stressing that “democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics,” in a reference to the IAF’s bombing of Hamas targets in the coastal enclave.
Responding on social media platform X to comments made by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant regarding the Strip, Petro said that the coastal enclave is being “converted into a concentration camp.”
He added that “concentration camps are prohibited by international law and those who develop them become criminals against humanity.”
Following Petro’s remarks, Israeli Ambassador to Colombia Gali Dagan challenged the president regarding his assertions, suggesting that as part of his commitment to human rights, he should condemn the slaughter of babies and children committed by Hamas.
Petro responded by doubling down and refusing to acknowledge that Hamas is a terror organization, replying that “terrorism is to kill innocent children, whether it be in Colombia or in Palestine.”
Notably, he did not condemn the killing of children in Israel.
Following the exchange, Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Levya accused Dagan of being “rude” and said she should “at a minimum, apologize and leave” the country for questioning Petro’s claims.
On Sunday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced that it was suspending defense cooperation with Colombia and will no longer allow the export security-related products to the South American country.