The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Condemns Colombia’s Opening of an Embassy in Occupied Jerusalem, Calls for Respect for the City’s Legal and Historical Status

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemns Colombia’s decision to open an embassy in occupied Jerusalem, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including the ICJ advisory opinion of 2024 and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Colombia’s decision to open an embassy in occupied Jerusalem is rejected by the international community, is null and void and does not have any legal validity nor does it alter the status of the City, in accordance with international law and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478. The State of Palestine recalls that the ICJ in 2025 ruled that States are under an obligation not to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and abstain, in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic missions in Israel, from any recognition of its illegal presence in the occupied territory.

The decision to move the embassy to occupied Jerusalem also violates the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and independence.

The Ministry warns that the Colombian government is in violation of its obligations under international law and demands that it reverses this decision and uphold its obligations under international law. It also urges the international community, including regional and international organizations, to take concrete diplomatic, political, economic, and legal measures in response to any State that opens or relocates its embassy to occupied Jerusalem.

The State of Palestine will take all legal, diplomatic, measures to preserve and protect the special status and character of the holy City.

A just and lasting peace can only be achieved by ending Israel’s illegal occupation, realizing an independent State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. No unilateral action can alter this reality or undermine the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights.