Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his Middle East adviser condemned Israel’s strike on Qatar, warning it undermines mediation efforts and violates the country’s sovereignty.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has condemned Israel’s strike on Qatar, urging it to respect its historical and moral responsibilities.

His remarks came as his Middle East adviser, Víctor de Currea-Lugo, published a detailed critique of the attack, warning it endangered the very idea of mediation.

Petro described the strike as an assault on diplomacy itself. “Qatar has been bombed by Netanyahu, in an act of cowardice, precisely the place where talks about Palestinian peace are held,” he wrote on X.

He expressed solidarity with Qatar, paying tribute in particular to those caring for children injured in Gaza. He also praised the role of Qatar’s Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for what he called steadfast efforts to secure peace.

The president invoked stark historical comparisons in his message.

“Against Hitler we are with you, with Hitler we are not with you,” he wrote. “Israel, honour your history, and do not allow Moses’ ‘thou shalt not kill’ to become the Baal and the modern Herod.”

Víctor de Currea-Lugo, Colombia’s presidential adviser on Middle Eastern affairs, who has previously worked in Palestine, also condemned the strike. In his article, 23 questions about Israel’s attack on Qatar, he described the assault as both reckless and dangerous for future diplomacy.

“If mediation is no longer safe, if the mediator becomes a target, who will dare to keep mediating?” he asked. “Israel didn’t just attack Hamas or Qatar; it attacked the diplomatic architecture that sustains the idea that conflicts can be resolved without more corpses.”

He warned that the strike signalled to the region that any state hosting Palestinian negotiators could become a target. Calling it “an open violation of Qatar’s sovereignty”, he argued it was also “a calculated message: no Arab country is safe if it decides to open its doors to the Palestinians.”

De Currea-Lugo has long experience in conflict zones. A journalist, academic and humanitarian worker, he has collaborated with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, and once coordinated the ICRC’s Medical Mission Protection Programme. He drew on that background to highlight the human and political cost of undermining mediation.

In his article, he raised questions about international law, sovereignty, and Israel’s growing impunity.

“Every bomb dropped on Doha – the negotiation hub – is also a slammed door for those hoping to come out of Gaza alive. If the mediator country becomes a target, where will peace be signed, and where will lives be saved?” he wrote.

He also warned that international institutions risked irrelevance. “The UN condemns, the ICC observes, treaties remain silent. Meanwhile, Israel bombs whoever it wants, wherever it wants, whenever it wants. The world no longer protects the law – it decorates it while burying it.”

Qatar, which hosts the Al Udeid US military base, has been mediating in the Gaza conflict at Washington’s request. De Currea-Lugo noted that Israel has previously carried out strikes in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq, which he said showed a pattern of disregard for international rules.

Colombia has a record of promoting human rights and humanitarian causes abroad. Since establishing diplomatic relations with the Palestinian territories in 2015, it has repeatedly voiced support for Palestinian self-determination.

President Petro has been outspoken over the war in Gaza, describing Israel’s siege as “genocide” and halting Colombian weapons purchases from Israel.

In his latest remarks, he called on Arab states to unite and not allow wealth or power to eclipse solidarity. He concluded with an appeal of fraternity from Colombia to the Arab world, saying his country’s diverse heritage reflects a commitment to a free, united and peaceful humanity.