Bogota, November 15 (RHC)-- The Colombian president says his government has decided to submit a proposal to the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a fully independent, member state of the world body.

Gustavo Petro announced the decision in a text accompanying images on his X account showing Palestinian people killed by the Israeli attack on Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip.  He wrote: “The carnage unleashed by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.”

“Colombia will present a proposal to the United Nations so that Palestine is accepted as a full [member] state,” he said.  The Colombian president also said Bogota will stop purchasing weapons from countries that voted against or abstained from the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I also call on democratic and progressive countries to fight to preserve international humanitarian law to prevent barbarism from spreading in the world,” he stated. 

The Colombian leader said that his country will contribute to a complaint filed by the Republic of Algeria with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Netanyahu for war crimes.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had earlier called on the Hague-based court to intervene and stop Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory.

The regime waged its war on Gaza on October 7, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to Tel Aviv’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

Israel has so far killed more than 11,200 Palestinians, a substantial number of whom are women and children.