South American leaders have criticized Israel amid airstrikes and its military offensive in Gaza and announced strong diplomatic actions. This reaction is being seen as a significant support for Palestinians as the United States and Western countries have pledged unwavering support for Israel in its campaign against Hamas.
Bolivia has cut official ties with Israel over the war and two other Latin American countries, Colombia and Chile, have recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv. Brazil and Mexico have called for immediate ceasefire.
Bolivia cuts ties with Israel
Bolivia is among the first countries to actively break diplomatic relations with Israel over its war in Gaza in retaliation for an October 7 attack by Hamas militants who Israel said killed 1,400 people and took 240 people hostage. Since then, Israel has continued aerial bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, killing 9,000 Palestinians in nearly four weeks.
“We can’t stay quiet and continue to allow the suffering of the Palestinian people,” President of Bolivia Luis Arce said.
Bolivia has cut official ties with Israel over the war in Gaza. Bolivia “decided to break diplomatic relations with the Israeli state in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip,” Deputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani said at a press conference on Tuesday night.
Bolivia’s interim foreign minister, María Nela Prada, said: “We demand an end to the attack” in the Gaza Strip “which have so far caused thousands of civilian deaths and the forced displacement of Palestinians,” she said at the press conference. She called for an end to blocking humanitarian work and also announced humanitarian aid for Gaza.
In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Bolivia of “aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization“. The ministry said that “Israel condemns Bolivia’s support of terrorism and its submission to the Iranian regime, which attest to the values the government of Bolivia represents.”
Israel’s relations with governments in South America have remained strained for years. Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales severed ties with Israel in 2009 following the military actions in Gaza. The relations were restored relations a decade later. Morales, who still has support in Bolivia, has called Israel a “terrorist state” and urged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be tried for war crimes in an international tribunal.
Colombia recalls envoy citing ‘massacre’ of Palestinians
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that the country has recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations. “If Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we cannot be there,” Petro said on X.
The president strongly condemned Israel’s bombardments of Gaza. “It’s called Genocide, they do it to remove the Palestinian people from Gaza and take it over,” he wrote on social media platform.
“The head of the state who carries out this genocide is a criminal against humanity,” wrote Petro. “Their allies cannot talk about democracy.”
Chile recalls ambassador from Israel
Chile, which has the largest Palestinian population in Latin America, also recalled its ambassador to Israel in condemnation of Israel’s bombardment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric tweeted that Israel was violating international humanitarian law and its airstrikes amounted to “collective punishment” in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council, has urged a cease-fire. He said attack by Hamas against Israel did not justify killing “millions of innocents” in Gaza. “Just because Hamas committed a terrorist attack against Israel doesn’t mean Israel has to kill millions of innocents,” he said in a live address on social media.
Jordan recalls envoy in Israel
Israel’s neighboring Jordan also announced on 1 November that the country is recalling its ambassador to Israel over the atrocities being committed in Gaza.
“This is to express Jordan’s stance that rejects and condemns the Israeli war on Gaza that kills innocents and is causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has said, adding that the war “carries dangerous possibilities for its expansion, which will threaten the security of the entire region and international security and peace.”