Santiago de Chile, February 15 (RHC)-- Pro-Palestinian protesters have staged a rally in the Chilean capital Santiago, calling on their government to sever ties with the Israeli regime over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators took to the streets in the Providencia district of the capital city on Tuesday, as they waved Palestinian flags and demanded an end to Israel’s brutal aggression against Gaza.  The protesters called on President Gabriel Boric to immediately withdraw the country’s ambassador from Israel, and urged the government to close the “criminal” Israeli embassy.

Back in January, Boric said the situation in Gaza is "much worse" than that of the German city of Berlin in 1945, referring to the Fall of Berlin that ended World War II.  The Chilean president's remarks came after in November the country recalled its ambassador from Israel for consultations due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

Accommodating around half a million Palestinians, Chile hosts the largest Palestinian community outside Arab countries.  The Latin American country recognized Palestine as a "free, independent, and sovereign state" in 2011.

Chile has also asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, citing the “escalation of violence against civilian targets.”

Israel waged the devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity over its intensified violence against Palestinians.  The Israeli aggression has so far killed some 28,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.