Colombian President Gustavo Petro sharply criticised Israel on Wednesday, comparing it to a Nazi regime over its military campaign in Gaza.
Speaking during a meeting at the UN Security Council, Petro said tens of thousands of people had been killed in Gaza by Israeli missiles.
“They rain missiles on people, even children.”
“These numbers cannot be hidden, and no political or economic interest can conceal this reality.”
Petro added that “the real common denominator of what I am saying here is that we are returning to the Nazi era”, according to the Hebrew-language news website Walla.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned Petro’s remarks on X.
“The disgraced outgoing President of Colombia is a stain on his great nation,” Saar wrote.
Saar also accused Petro of antisemitism, stating: “This antisemite is systematically trivializing the memory of the Holocaust,” and adding, “He is a communist that ruined his great country. Soon, he will be history.”
Colombia is due to hold presidential elections on 21 June, and Petro is not standing for re-election.
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