ALBAWABA - As ties between the two once-close military and economic partners deteriorate, the Washington Post reports Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on Saturday that his nation would stop exporting coal to Israel in response to its ongoing violence in Gaza.
“We are going to suspend coal exports to Israel until the genocide stops,” the president wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Additionally, Petro offered a draft directive that states that coal shipments would only commence up again if Israel adheres with the International Court of Justice's recent ruling that Israel must remove its forces from the Gaza Strip.
According to the American Journal for Transportation, Israel receives over 50 percent of its coal from Colombia, which is primarily used to fuel its power plants. Colombia's National Statistics Department reports that in the first eight months of last year, the country sent more than $320 million worth of coal to Israel, which accounted for a small portion of Colombia's total $9 billion in coal exports.
After taking office as Colombia's first leftist president in 2022, Petro severed diplomatic relations with Israel in May, citing his inability to continue dealing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "genocidal" regime, followed by establishing an embassy in Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority.
However, as the AP notes, the two governments have carried on maintaining consulates in each other's countries and engaging in commerce since then.
The Colombian government asserts that the export restriction on coal will take effect five days after it is announced in the official gazette and will not be applicable to products that have already received shipping authorization.
As of June 9, the Israeli aggression on Gaza strip has resulted in the killing of over 36,801 Palestinians, and injury of more than 83,680, according to Gaza Ministry of Health, reported before the recent “Nuseirat refugee camp massacre,” which resulted in the killing of 210 Palestinians and injury of over 400, while 4 Israeli captives were extorted according to Al Jazeera.
