Live
Audio Only
The South American country condemns "the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive being carried out in the Gaza Strip."
The Bolivian government announced on Tuesday the severance of diplomatic relations with Israel due to its continuous attacks and aggressions against the population of the Gaza Strip.
Deputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani told a press conference broadcast by national television that "Within the framework of its principled position of respect for life, Bolivia has decided to break diplomatic relations with Israel, in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive being carried out in the Gaza Strip."
He called for a cease to the current attacks and of the blockade that prevents the entry of food, water and other elements essential for life, violating international law and international humanitarian law.
Mamani joined Minister of the Presidency María Nela Prada from Government House in La Paz to communicate the decision, which will be officially notified through established diplomatic channels between the two countries, they said.
Bolivia rompe relaciones diplomáticas con Israel en rechazo a los crímenes de lesa humanidad que comete contra el pueblo palestino: María Nela Prada, Ministra de la Presidencia de Bolivia:@teleSURtv @temasteleSUR pic.twitter.com/H29gnytetr
— Freddy Morales (@FreddyteleSUR) October 31, 2023
The tweet reads, "Bolivia breaks diplomatic relations with Israel in rejection of the crimes against humanity it commits against the Palestinian people: María Nela Prada, Minister of the Presidency of Bolivia."
For her part, Prada said that Israel's actions are "crimes against humanity," and demanded "an end to the attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have already claimed thousands of civilian lives."
The day before, Bolivian President Luis Arce held a meeting with the Palestinian ambassador to the South American nation, Mahmoud Elalwani. The president expressed his rejection of the war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as well as his solidarity on behalf of the Bolivian people for the suffering of the Palestinians.
Regarding this meeting, the Minister of the Presidency said that Arce "called for a definitive solution and for Palestine to exercise its right to self-determination, to its territory without illegal occupations and to consolidate its own free and independent State, within the framework of its established borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Prada also urged "dialogue and structural solutions" to avoid "a further escalation of the conflict around the world." She called on "brotherly countries" and the integration processes in which Bolivia participates to "produce a collective action" to achieve pacification in the region and "avoid genocide."
Furthermore, she said that Bolivia will send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and that the Bolivian Embassy in the Netherlands will assume the concurrent function with Palestine.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip.
In retaliation Israel announced a total blockade of the enclave and has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 8,525, including 3,542 children and 2,187 women, the Hamas-run Health Ministry updated today. Meanwhile, more than 21,000 Palestinians have been injured.
Newsletter
