The president indicated that the Colombian diplomatic headquarters will be located in the territory of Ramallah.
17:57 hs 22/May
2024
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, ordered this Wednesday to install the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the administrative capital of the Palestinian State, after he broke diplomatic relations with Israel on May 2 due to his opposition to that country’s actions in “the war that It has been fought in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.” “President Petro gave the instruction that we install the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” the chancellor, Luis Gilberto Murillo, told the media. Murillo did not specify whether it is about the opening of an embassy in Palestine that would operate in parallel to the Israeli embassy, located in Tel Aviv, currently closed. Colombia recognized Palestine as a State on August 3, 2018, four days before the then president, Juan Manuel Santos, handed over the position to his successor, Iván Duque. This country currently has a consular section in Ramallah, in the West Bank, which depended on the embassy in Tel Aviv. This announcement is made on the same day that Spain, Ireland and Norway declared that they will jointly recognize the State of Palestine on May 28, which 143 countries already do. “We are sure that more and more countries will recognize Palestine and this is nothing against Israel or the Jews,” said the Colombian foreign minister, referring to this matter, and added: “The United Nations agreed in the context of the Oslo agreements that created a two-state solution and if two states are needed, Palestine needs to be recognized as a full state.” The Colombian Government called on numerous occasions for a ceasefire, for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, while urging Israel to respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL). “Colombia cannot be complicit or remain silent by maintaining diplomatic relations with a Government that behaves in this way and faces such serious accusations of the commission of genocide, war crimes and violations of international Humanitarian Law,” stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. when he announced the breakup of relations. Petro is one of the leaders who most strongly expressed his opposition to Israel and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause. This is the last step to show support for the State of Palestine. Photo: Gustavo Petro with the ambassador of Palestine, Raouf Almalki / Presidency of Colombia
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on May 23, 2024
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