Sri Lanka, May 2 -- President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday (May 1) that Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he described as "genocidal" in its war in Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed ... for having a government, for having a president that is genocidal," Petro, a harsh critic of the devastating war against Hamas, told a May Day rally in Bogota.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro made the announcement at a rally in Bogota's Bolivar Square on Wednesday, describing the Israeli government's handling of the war in Gaza as "genocidal.""If Palestine dies, humanity dies," he said to loud applause from the crowd, some ...