Belize on Tuesday suspended diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the second Latin American nation to sever ties in the wake of the country’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Citing what it called “unceasing indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza, Belmopan withdrew its welcome to the Israeli ambassador, Einat Kranz-Neiger, and announced it had withdrawn the request for accreditation of its honorary consul in Tel Aviv.
Since October 7, “Israel has consistently violated international law,” a Belize statement alleged.1/2Skip A
Bolivia broke relations with Israel on November 1, accusing Israel of “carrying out crimes against humanity,” while Colombia, Chile and Honduras have all recalled their ambassadors.
On October 7, some 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through the Gaza border into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking some 240 hostages.
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Many of the victims were butchered in their homes in front of their families, and 260 people were mowed down at an outdoor music festival.
A group of people demonstrate in support of Palestinians and against Israel in front of the US embassy in La Paz, Bolivia on October 11, 2023. (Aizar Raldes/AFP)
In response, Israel launched an offensive from the air and on the ground, vowing to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by the terror group since 2007. It says it is avoiding civilians as much as possible, though much of the terror infrastructure is embedded within hospitals, homes, schools and mosques.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that some 11,320 people have been killed since October 7, most of them civilians. These numbers cannot be independently verified and are thought to include Hamas’s own members as well as civilians killed by misfired rockets that were launched and fell inside of the Strip.
Source : The Times of Israel
