ICSPR Relocating the Colombian Embassy to Occupied Jerusalem Violates International Law and Legitimises Israeli Colonial Annexation

Date: 15 October 2026

Press Release

ICSPR: Relocating the Colombian Embassy to Occupied Jerusalem Violates International Law and Legitimises Israeli Colonial Annexation

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) condemns in the strongest terms the Colombian government’s decision to relocate its embassy to occupied Jerusalem. The Commission considers this an internationally unlawful measure, a violation of United Nations resolutions and international law, and an infringement upon the legal status of East Jerusalem as an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It also constitutes political acceptance of Israel’s imposition of colonial annexation by force, undermining the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them their right to self-determination and to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

ICSPR affirms that relocating the embassy is not a neutral diplomatic measure, but a step carrying political and legal implications that contribute to normalising the consequences of occupation and providing cover for attempts to impose Israeli sovereignty over the city. The decision contravenes United Nations Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478 of 1980 and Resolution 2334 of 2016, as well as the principle prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force.

The decision also disregards the international obligations affirmed by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024 concerning the duty not to recognise the unlawful situation arising from Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining it. The Commission considers the decision condemnable and unlawful in its effects, and a political and legal crime against the rights of the Palestinian people, as it entails practical acceptance of a colonial annexation rejected by international law and United Nations resolutions.

The Commission warns that this step risks encouraging other states to take similar measures, weakening the international legal system and entrenching the policy of imposing facts on the ground by force. It holds the Colombian government politically and legally responsible for its decision and its consequences, and calls on it to immediately reverse the decision, close the embassy in occupied Jerusalem, and relocate it outside the city.

ICSPR calls on the State of Palestine to launch urgent legal and diplomatic action, seek to bring the legal consequences of the decision before the International Court of Justice within its jurisdiction and competence, and pursue the matter before the United Nations, the Security Council, the General Assembly, and other competent international bodies.

The Commission also calls for mobilising Palestinian, Arab, and international diplomatic relations and building a coordinated response with friendly states and regional groups to press the Colombian government to review and reverse its decision, and to prevent it from becoming a precedent that undermines Jerusalem’s legal status.

ICSPR appeals to Arab and Islamic states, Latin American countries, and all other states committed to international law to adopt clear positions and act through diplomatic and legal channels. It also calls on the Colombian people, political parties and movements, trade unions, and civil society organisations to exert peaceful and lawful pressure on their government to reverse the decision, in accordance with the principles of justice and peoples’ right to self-determination.

ICSPR affirms that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, and that unilateral decisions neither confer lawful sovereignty on the occupying Power, nor turn annexation into a right, nor diminish Palestinian rights. Protecting Jerusalem is an international responsibility. Confronting this measure requires moving beyond condemnation towards serious legal and diplomatic action that rejects double standards and prevents the legitimisation of realities imposed by force.