BOGOTA (Dispatches) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told journalists.
“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.
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.
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 Zionist regime over its war on Gaza. The embassy was closed on May 3.
A left-wing leader who came to power in 2022, Petro is considered part of a progressive wave known as the “pink tide” in Latin America. He has been one of the region’s most vocal critics of Israel since the start of the war.
In April, Petro also requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Palestine is currently a UN non-member observer state, a status that was granted to it in 2012. An application to become a full UN member needs to be approved by the Security Council and then at least two-thirds of the General Assembly.
Colombia’s plan to open an embassy in Ramallah was announced on the same day Norway, Spain and Ireland said they would recognize Palestine as a state. Colombia recognized Palestine in 2018. 
It also came as Petro earlier this month said he would cut Colombia’s diplomatic relations with Israel over the regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to Israel’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 35,800 Palestinians and injured 80,200 more.