President Gustavo Petro spoke again about war with Israel after the Hamas attack on Saturday, October 7. The Colombian president wrote on Twitter that peace is necessary to protect children in both Israel and Palestine.

 The Colombian president continued his reaction on the Palestinian side, noting that "the only way Palestinian children can sleep peacefully is for Israeli children to sleep peacefully," he said via X (formerly Twitter).

 The Colombian president also highlighted Palestinian children who died because of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine: "These photos of Palestinian children who were killed because of the illegal occupation of their territory."

 He published this publication after expressing his position on the war, considering himself pro-Palestinian.

 "War has broken out again between Israel and Palestinian Gaza. In my speech at the UN, I showed how the countries of the world view the Russian occupation of Ukraine in a certain way and the Israeli occupation of Palestine in another, very different way. "My votes go to the opening of a peace dialogue that fully recognizes the state of Palestine," said the president. On the other hand, Peter responded to the statement of the Israeli Minister of Defense  Yoav Gallant declaring a "total siege"  in the fight against "animals": "That's what the Nazis said about the Jews".

 The Colombian president added on X, previously Twitter, writing that "Democratic countries cannot allow Nazism to re-establish itself in international politics."

 He said Gallant's wording amounted to "hate speech" that, if continued, "will only cause a holocaust."

 Gallant announced in a video message that Israel would impose a "total blockade" on the Gaza Strip and its 2.3 million residents, which he said would mean "no electricity, no food, no water, no gas."

"We fight animals and act accordingly," he said.

  Israel has hit the Gaza Strip for the past three days after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on a southern Israeli city that killed hundreds of people. Dozens were taken hostage - two of them believed to be of Colombian origin.

 Petro has posted dozens of comments on social media about the events since Saturday, sparking a heated exchange with Israel's ambassador to Bogotá, Gali Dagan, who called on Colombia to condemn the "terrorist attack against innocent civilians."

In his answer, Peter said "The purpose of terrorism is to kill innocent children, whether in Colombia or Palestine", encouraging both sides to negotiate for peace.  Dagan then invited Peter to visit the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which the president said on Monday he had seen "copied in Gaza".

 "No democrat in the world can accept that Gaza will be turned into a concentration camp," Petro added.

  Colombia's foreign ministry issued a statement on Saturday that "strongly condemned terrorism and attacks against civilians in Israel" and expressed solidarity with the victims. 

 The link to that statement has now been removed, and the new statement of condemnation does not mention "terrorism".