The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has responded to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Israel Katz, who had assured that the Colombian president will be remembered for “taking the side of the most despicable monsters” after announcing the breaking of relations with Israel, and has expressed that the “monster” is the “genocide” perpetrated by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The monster is genocide and Yetanhau – referring to Netanyahu – produces the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Petro published on his social network account X, in reference to a news item that echoed Katz’s words.
Petro, has announced that the country will break diplomatic relations with Israel starting Thursday in retaliation for the Israeli Army’s offensive against the Gaza Strip, where more than 34,500 Palestinians have already died. Following this, Katz criticized the Colombian president for “taking the side of the most despicable monsters”, alluding to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), known for “burning babies, murdering children, raping women and kidnapping innocent civilians.” .
The Colombian president already threatened to sever diplomatic ties if Israel did not comply with the resolution approved by the UN Security Council that called for an “immediate” ceasefire during the month of Ramadan. The United States, which exercised its right of veto on up to three occasions, gave the text the ‘green light’ on March 25.
Petro has been very active since last October 7, when Palestinian militias attacked Israel, resulting in 1,200 deaths and 240 hostages. In fact, in January the Colombian president proposed a peace commission to move towards a cessation of hostilities and start new talks for the release of the kidnapped people who remain in Gaza.