Petro, who has been in power since 2022, said that Israel had detained two Colombian women while sailing in "international waters," calling for their "immediate release."
In a statement, Petro emphasized his rejection of "any action that threatens the physical safety, freedom, or human rights of Colombian citizens abroad." He also announced his decision to immediately cancel the free trade agreement with Israel.
Prior to this decision, only four Israeli diplomats remained in Colombia after the leftist president severed diplomatic relations with Israel last year, a Colombian source told AFP.
In 2024, Colombia severed diplomatic relations with Israel in protest over the war in the Gaza Strip. However, Israel maintained a consular presence in the South American country of 40 employees, including four Israelis with diplomatic status, according to the same Colombian source.
The organizers of the Global Steadfastness Flotilla, which aims to break the siege on Gaza, announced Wednesday evening that the Israeli military had stormed six ships on the flotilla heading toward the Strip, assaulted participating activists, and arrested dozens. Some of the ships were approaching the Gaza coast.
This is the first time that approximately 50 ships have sailed together toward Gaza, carrying 532 civil society activists from more than 45 countries.
Israel has been blockading the Gaza Strip for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians out of a population of approximately 2.4 million in the Strip homeless after their homes were destroyed by the war of extermination.
On March 2, it tightened the blockade by closing all crossings into Gaza, preventing any food, medicine, or humanitarian aid from entering the Strip, plunging the Strip into famine despite the backlog of aid trucks at its borders.
Sometimes, Israel allows very limited aid into the Strip, which fails to meet the minimum needs of the starving population and does not end the famine, especially since most trucks are robbed by gangs that the Gaza government claims Israel protects.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, leaving 66,148 dead and 168,716 wounded, most of them children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 455 Palestinians, including 151 children.
