Colombia bans coal exports to Israel

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro signed a decree banning coal exports to Israel, Bloomberg reported, adding that this is an effort “to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict in Gaza.”

The Columbian president said that Israel uses Colombian coal to make bombs to kill Palestinian children.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the Colombian president has repeatedly stressed that Israel is committing genocide, calling on the world to put an end to Netanyahu’s violations.

At the end of February, Petro announced the suspension of arms purchase deals from the occupation, following the flour massacre in Gaza when 118 Palestinians were martyred while waiting for an aid convoy near the Nabulsi roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.

Petro also announced in May that his country has severed its diplomatic relations with Israel and that the countries of the world should not be passive towards what is happening in Gaza.

Colombia is Israel’s biggest coal supplier, having sold it about $450 million of the fuel in 2023, according to Bloomberg News.

It had suspended coal exports in June.