Countries that have broken relations with Israel due to the war against Hamas in Gaza

With President Gustavo Petro’s announcement on Wednesday, Colombia became the third country to break diplomatic ties with Israel since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, although several countries had already cut ties with the Jewish state and others. had never directly recognized him.

“Colombia cannot remain indifferent to the enormous and indescribable human suffering it is causing,” the Colombian Foreign Ministry said Thursday, which is why President Gustavo Petro has announced the decision to break diplomatic relations with Israel effective May 2. ” in a statement.

Israel launched a military offensive against Hamas in Gaza on October 7, after the militant group that rules the coastal territory attacked Israeli territory, killing at least 1,200 people in Israel and abducting more than 250. Went. Nearly seven months on, Israeli bombardment has reduced neighborhoods of Gaza to rubble and threatened its residents with famine. Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 34,600 Palestinians as of May 1, and seven in 10 of them are women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry. CNN cannot independently verify the figures due to lack of international media access.

Following the announcement by the President of Colombia, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, published a message on his X account in which he criticized the decision. Katz took aim at Petro for rewarding Hamas, saying he was “taking the side of the most despicable monsters known to humanity who burned children, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians. “

Which other countries have broken relations with Israel?

belize

In mid-November, the government of Belize indicated it would suspend diplomatic relations with Israel over its refusal to enforce the ceasefire.

Officials from the Central American country indicated that they have “repeatedly condemned” the actions of the Israel Defense Forces and requested unhindered access for humanitarian aid to Gaza. “Despite our requests, Israel has not ended its violations of international humanitarian law or allowed relief workers to ease the suffering of millions of Gazans,” he said in a statement.

For its part, Israel condemned the move and pointed out that with it Belize has “surrendered to the terrorism of Hamas and aligned itself with the Iran-led axis of evil.”

Bolivia

In late October, Bolivia became the first country to break diplomatic ties with Israel over attacks in Gaza.

Vice Chancellor Freddy Mamani announced the decision and described it as a “crime against humanity committed against the Palestinian people”.

For its part, Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations said the government believes Israel is a state that “does not respect people’s lives, international law or humanitarian law.”

The Israeli government questioned the decision, calling it “terrorism and a capitulation to the regime of the Ayatollahs in Iran” and believed that the rejection of military operations meant that “the Bolivian government is associating itself with the terrorist organization Hamas” and there “Bolivia’s support for terrorism and its submission to the Iranian regime.”

other solutions

The Turkish government, which was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel’s sovereignty in 1949, announced this Thursday the suspension of all import and export transactions with Israel in protest against the war in Gaza.

The Commerce Ministry said, “Turkey will strictly and decisively enforce these new measures until the Israeli government allows the unhindered and adequate flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

This measure has already been taken by Colombia and Turkey, but also by other countries such as Chile, Honduras, South Africa or Jordan.

country without ties

If there are other ideologically distant countries that do not appear on this list, it is probably because they had no relationship with Israel before October. In Latin America, Venezuela cut diplomatic ties in 2009 because of the conflict in Gaza, and Cuba has not had relations with Israel for more than half a century, after breaking them in 1973.

Other countries, mostly in North Africa and the Middle East, do not recognize Israel, such as Algeria, Libya, Qatar or Yemen. Neither does North Korea, nor its arch rival Iran.

For its part, Saudi Arabia is in talks with the United States and Israel to normalize relations, a process that was underway even before the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza. However, monarchy officials have stressed to CNN that this would likely happen only if there was a path to the creation of a Palestinian state.