"President Petro has given instruction to install the Colombian embassy in Ramallah – that is the next step we are going to take," Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told reporters.

The Colombian diplomat did not specify whether it is about opening an embassy in Palestine that will operate in parallel with the one in Israel, located in Tel Aviv and currently closed, after the rupture of relations between the two countries.

Colombia recognized Palestine as a State on August 3, 2018, four days before then President Juan Manuel Santos handed over the position to his successor, Iván Duque.

The Andean country currently has a consular section in Ramallah, in the West Bank, which depended on the embassy in Tel Aviv.

This announcement comes on the same day that Spain, Ireland and Norway announced that they will jointly recognize the State of Palestine on May 28, joining 143 countries that have already done so.

"We are certain that more and more countries will recognize Palestine, and this is not against Israel or the Jewish people," the Colombian Foreign Minister stressed, adding: "The United Nations agreed, in the context of the Oslo Accords, to create a two-state solution and, if two states are needed, Palestine must be recognized as a full-fledged State."

Colombia announced a break in relations with Israel that took effect on May 2, due to its opposition to that country's actions in the "ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023."

The Colombian government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, urging Israel to respect International Humanitarian Law.

"Colombia cannot be an accomplice or remain silent, maintaining diplomatic relations with a government that behaves in this way and faces such serious accusations of committing genocide, war crimes and violations of International Humanitarian Law," the Colombian Foreign Ministry argued when announcing the break in relations with Israel.

Petro has been one of the foreign leaders who most strongly expressed opposition to Israel and solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and this is the latest step in his demonstration of support for the State of Palestine.

On October 7 of last year, Israel declared war on the Gaza Strip to "eradicate" Hamas after it had carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory hours earlier, killing more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

In power in Gaza since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, Hamas also took 252 hostages, 124 of whom remain in captivity and 37 have died in the meantime, according to the latest Israeli report.

The war, which today entered its 229th day and continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East, has so far caused more than 35,700 deaths in the Gaza Strip, about 80,000 injured and 10,000 missing, presumably buried in the rubble, mostly civilians, according to updated figures from local authorities.

The conflict has also caused almost two million displaced people, plunging the overcrowded and poor Palestinian enclave into a serious humanitarian crisis, with more than 1.1 million people in a "catastrophic hunger situation" that is taking its toll - "the highest number ever recorded" by the UN in food security studies in the world.

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