Chile President refuses Israeli ambassador's credentials over Israel’s killing of Palestinians

Chilean President, Gabriel Boric, yesterday refused to accept the credentials of new Israeli Ambassador, Gil Artzyeli, due to Israel’s killing of Palestinians.

Artzyeli had been scheduled to present his credentials to Boric as a formality, but the Chilean government informed him that the ceremony had been cancelled, before he was instructed to leave.

According to Ynet News, the decision was made “because of Israel killing children” in the recent escalation in the West Bank and increased Israeli military activity against Palestinians.

It comes as Israeli occupation forces killed yet another Palestinian boy in a dawn raid yesterday. Seventeen-year-old Uday Trad Salah was killed when Israeli troops stormed the town of Kafr Dan, in the Jenin district, and shot him in the head.

Salah was one of three Palestinians to be shot. He was declared dead at the scene. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Salah’s killing raised the number of Palestinians killed this year by Israel to 149, 34 of whom were in Jenin.

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Overnight raids by the Israeli army are a near-daily practice in the occupied West Bank. Israel claims that they are essential for intelligence purposes, but rights groups have slammed the practice, insisting that the goal is to oppress and intimidate the Palestinian population and increase State control.

Like military checkpoints and the illegal Separation Wall, insist critics, the raids are part of the DNA of the Apartheid State.

The ceremony in which the new Israeli ambassador is expected to present his credentials has reportedly been pushed back to next month.

Moreover, Artzyeli claims the Chilean Foreign Ministry apologised to him and the Israeli government over what happened.

Chile is home to some half a million Palestinian immigrants, most of whom are Christian.

Boric, who became President last year, is a known supporter of BDS, after he campaigned for a boycott of goods, services and products from illegal Israeli settlements.