This morning, the UN special rapporteur suggested to all countries in the world to freeze diplomatic relations with the Israeli government, as she considers that treating the “occupation” of the Palestinian territories as something normal means supporting the “illegal presence” of the Jewish State in the Palestinian enclave; such statements were made at the summit organized by Colombia and South Africa in Bogota.
“That each State immediately review and suspend its ties with the State of Israel, its military, strategic, political, diplomatic and economic relations, both imports and exports,” the rapporteur commented during the premises of the ministerial meeting of the Hague group in the Colombian capital.
The current pressure on Israel
According to media reports, a conference was held today at which the UN rapporteur suggested that all countries should freeze diplomatic relations with the government of Israel, as this would mean supporting and financially sustaining an alleged genocide in Gaza.
This is why Francesca Albanese stressed that countries must ensure that their private sector, from banks, pensions, universities and service providers in supply chains, as well as multinational companies such as Alphabet, IBM, Microsoft and Amazon, among others, should review their economic and commercial relations with the Jewish country.
Albanese also pointed out that Israel’s economy is organized to sustain “the occupation,” which has now become an alleged genocide, implying that viewing the occupation as normal means supporting or providing aid to Israel’s illegal presence in occupied Palestinian territories.
It should be noted that Colombia, as the host of the Hague group meeting, broke diplomatic relations on May 1, 2024 and days later stopped supplying coal to this country in response to the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which President Gustavo Petro condemned as genocide.
The Hague interested in stopping the Israel-Gaza conflict
It should be noted that the Hague group was created last year by Bolivia, Cuba, Colombia, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa in displeasure over the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that is why they committed, among other issues, to enforce the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, for crimes of alleged genocide.
According to the communiqué, the two-day meeting that began today was attended by 30 countries, including Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Spain, Honduras, Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay. It should be noted that this meeting will conclude on Wednesday, when Petro and Albanese will be present and will expand their commitment.
The rapporteur noted the following words: “What the Hague Group has undertaken to do and is considering extending is a small commitment to what is just and due, based on its obligations under international law”; it is a commitment, not charitable sympathy, Albanese stressed.
Hamas accuses Israel of rejecting and sabotaging negotiations
According to recent reports, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has accused Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu of being “the main problem” in bringing to a successful conclusion negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, the exchange of hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territory where only this day more than 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks, according to the civil defense of the place.
According to Monday’s communiqué, Hamas has repudiated that Netanyahu is an expert in sabotaging negotiations and does not want to reach any diplomatic agreement to put an end to the war. It is worth mentioning that the Israeli Prime Minister had previously threatened to attack the Gaza Strip again a week earlier.