By Staff, Agencies Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo announced that his country’s President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the West Bank city of Ramallah. “President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” Murillo said.

At the beginning of this month, Petro, who had already recalled the Colombian ambassador from Tel Aviv, said he would break diplomatic relations with the “Israeli” entity over its continuous aggression on Gaza.

The embassy was closed on May 3.

Murillo added he believes more countries will soon begin backing the recognition of a Palestinian state before the United Nations, efforts Colombia has already supported.

On May 10, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommended the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.” Petro has heavily criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has requested to join South Africa’s case accusing “Israel” of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

The order came the same week that a trio of European nations— Norway, Ireland, and Spain— announced that they would recognize a State of Palestine, a move that drew criticism from the “Israeli” government, with Netanyahu similarly calling such recognition a “reward for terror.” Colombia was not the first Latin American country to cut ties with Israel since war broke out with Hamas.

Bolivia did so at the end of October last year while several other countries in Latin America, including Chile and Honduras, have recalled their ambassadors.