Bolivia said on Tuesday it had broken diplomatic relations with Israel over its attacks on the Gaza Strip, while neighbors Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors in the Middle Eastern country for consultations.
The three South American nations criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza and condemned the deaths of Palestinian citizens.
Bolivia “decided to break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip,” Vice Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani said at a press conference.
Palestinians search for victims at the site of Israeli attacks on houses in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. REUTERS Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a building after the Israeli bombardment in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on October 31, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The three countries called for a ceasefire, while Bolivia and Chile pressed for humanitarian aid to the area and accused Israel of violating international law.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the attacks a “massacre of the Palestinian people” in a post on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Freddy Mamani (right), speaks with the Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada, during a press conference in which he announces that Bolivia will break relations with Israel on October 31, 2023. MINISTRY FROM BOLIVIA FOREIGN/AFP via Getty Images Palestinians search for victims at the site of Israeli attacks on houses in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. REUTERS Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel Police Unit 33 at an undisclosed location on October 30, 2023. ZUMAPRESS. com
Other Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, have also called for a ceasefire.
“What we have now is the madness of the prime minister of Israel, who wants to erase the Gaza Strip,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Friday.
Bolivia is among the first countries to actively sever diplomatic relations with Israel over its war in Gaza, retaliation for an October 7 attack in southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants that Israel says killed 1,400 people. , including children, and took 240 people hostage.
A view from the area after Israeli airstrikes on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, on October 31, 2023. Anadolu via Getty Images The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on houses in the refugee camp from Jabalia lie in a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. on October 31, 2023. REUTERS
Bolivia cut diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 under the government of leftist President Evo Morales, also in protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In 2020, the government of right-wing interim president Jeanine Áñez reestablished ties.
“We reject the war crimes being committed in Gaza. “We support international initiatives to guarantee humanitarian aid, in compliance with international law,” Bolivian President Arce said on social media this Monday.
Palestinians work to rescue a victim at the site of Israeli attacks on houses in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. REUTERS The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks against houses in the Jabalia refugee camp, they lie in a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. REUTERS
Gaza health authorities say 8,525 people, including 3,542 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes since October 7.
U.N. officials say more than 1.4 million of Gaza’s civilian population of about 2.3 million have been left homeless.
The Israeli military has accused Iran-backed Hamas, which rules the narrow coastal territory, of using civilian buildings as cover for fighters, commanders and weapons, charges it denies.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn