Bogota's Israel coal exports ban fuelled by Palestinian-Colombian coalition

An alliance of Palestinian organisations and Colombian trade unionists and indigenous groups has claimed victory after Colombia's President Gustavo Petro announced a halt to the country's coal exports to Israel earlier this month.

Colombia's decree on Saturday said coal shipments to Israel would be suspended until the country obeys the International Court of Justice order to halt its assault on Rafah.

It came after the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) wrote to Petro in June, reiterating its calls for a coal export ban by Colombia’s largest coal miners union, Sintracarbon.

“The ongoing genocide, its length and magnitude would not have been possible if the colonising state of Israel had stopped receiving energy sources allowing it to commit one of the most atrocious crimes in history,” it said.

Read more: Bogota's Israel coal exports ban fuelled by Palestinian-Colombian coalition