Chile's large Palestinian community criticizes Israel over Gaza

Chile's Palestinian community, the largest outside the Middle East, is one of the loudest regional voices criticizing Israel over its military action in Gaza.

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile’s Palestinian community, the largest outside the Middle East, is a strong force in the Andean nation, involved in local politics, culture and soccer. Now it’s making Chile one of the loudest regional voices criticizing Israel over its military action in Gaza.

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, a moderate figure in the Latin American left, recalled the country’s ambassador in Tel Aviv last week and said Israel was not abiding by international law.

On a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Boric added that the Israeli military operation “at this stage acts as a collective punishment to the civilian population in Gaza.” He brought up the issue with President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting last Thursday in Washington.

“There’s no doubt we can say the response has been disproportionate and is violating international humanitarian law,” Boric told reporters after the meeting at the White House.

President Joe Biden meets with Chilean President Gabriel Boric in the Oval Office on Thursday.Andrew Harnik / APThe Israeli embassy in Santiago said it would not comment on its relationship with Boric’s government.