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Published 22 July by Academia Superior de Idiomas

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The Ecuadorian Ambassador has been recalled from Israel. The Ecuadorian government has made this decision based on the recent assault on the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces, leading to the deaths of over 550 Palestinians. Out of these 550 deaths, over 130 have been children, and over 3,300 people have been injured.

South Africa has also made a similar decision this week. On Friday the South African legislators urged the president to pull their officials from Israel and cut diplomatic ties by comparing what is happening now to what happened during Apartheid. Stone Sizani, a member of the African National Congress stated: “We echo the widespread condemnation of these senseless attacks on defenceless Palestinians and call on the government of Israel to immediately cease with this blatant act of criminality,”. “As the ANC in parliament, we stand unapologetically with the people of Palestine and pro-Palestinian campaigners … As one of the measures to put pressure on Israel, we are of a firm view that our government must recall our ambassador to Israel and also ask the Israel ambassador to South Africa to leave with immediate effect.”

The decision to recall the Ecuadorian ambassador coincides with the announcement made by the African Studies Association to join an academic boycott of Israel by getting 500 academic signatures worldwide to enact an embargo. The Ecuadorian government made clear that that the reason they are withdrawing is due to the recent attacks in Gaza. The Ecuadoran Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, stated, “We condemn the Israeli military incursion into Palestinian territory. We require cessation of operations and indiscriminate attacks against civilians.”

The attempted decision to boycott Israel has been heavily endorsed by Hamas, and they have called on the UN to pass a resolution to end the nearly eight-year-long attack on the Gaza Strip that has the of countless civilians by indiscriminate bombings and attacks by the Israelis.

The recall of the Ecuadorian ambassador is Ecuador’s way of protesting the current happenings in Israel with regards to the conflict. With Ecuador and South Africa boycotting Israel, other countries may start to do the same if the conflict continues.