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Israel stops arms sales to Colombia and Bogotá threatens to cut ties
(JTA) — Israel paused arms sales to Colombia over what Israel’s foreign ministry called Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “hostile and anti-Semitic statements,” and Petro responded by threatening to suspend all diplomatic ties with Israel.
Since Hamas’ attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, Petro — Colombia’s first left-wing president in decades — has continuously written pro-Palestinian posts on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, and argued with Jewish leaders.
In recent days, he has said Hamas is the “invention of Mossad to divide the Palestinian people” and compared Israel’s bombing of Gaza to Nazism.
On Sunday, Lior Haiat, an Israeli foreign affairs ministry spokesperson, posted on X that Israel would be stopping all security exports to Colombia as a “first measure.” Colombia and Israel signed a free trade agreement in 2020, and Colombia’s army currently uses armored vehicles, machine guns and other weapons provided by Israel in its fight against drug cartels in the country.
Haiat’s statement also noted that Colombia’s ambassador to Israel, Margarita Manjarrez, was summoned for a conversation about the president’s statements on the conflict.
In response, Petro responded on X with a tweet currently pinned to the top of his profile, saying “If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we suspend them. We do not support genocides.”
In the same tweet, he added: “Someday the army and government of Israel will ask us for forgiveness for what their men did in our land, unleashing the genocide. I will hug them and they will cry for the murder of Auschwitz and Gaza, and for the Colombian Auschwitz.’
Israel’s ambassador to Colombia, Gali Dagan, has also been feuding with Petro and other pro-Palestinian Colombians on X. In response to Petro’s claim that Hamas is an invention of Israel, Dagan sarcastically wrote: “It is true, Mr. President @petrogustavo, as you wrote in this trill, indeed #Hamas is an invention of the Mossad. However, I would like to share with you additional information from our intelligence services, which are some of the best in the world: The Elders of Zion founded the Gulf Clan. There are still Jews, with large, aquiline noses, who command the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.”
In response to Dagan’s comments, Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán wrote on X: “The history of universal diplomacy will record as a milestone the senseless rudeness of Israel’s ambassador in Colombia towards President Gustavo. Shame on him. He should at least apologize and leave.”
Durán later seemed to backtrack this tweet as some interpreted it as an order for ambassador Dagan to leave. “I have not said that the Israeli ambassador is expelled,” he tweeted. Durán elaborated that his only intention was to call for “respect” for President Petro.
Marcos Peckel, the director of Colombia’s Jewish communal organization, wrote “We regret the statements of the President @petrogustavo on X. The Jewish community of Colombia will continue working to maintain the historic ties between Colombia and Israel that have brought so much benefit to our country.”
U.S. government officials have also commented on Petro’s tweets.
“We strongly condemn President Petro’s statements and call on him to condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, for its barbaric murder of Israeli men, women and children,” said Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
In a statement, the American Jewish Committee called Petro’s threat to cut ties “both unfortunate and potentially dangerous.”
“The president’s antisemitic rhetoric can put Colombia’s Jews in danger at a time when their safety should be of paramount concern,” the group wrote.
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The post Israel stops arms sales to Colombia and Bogotá threatens to cut ties appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.