Chilean President announces import ban on Israeli settlement goods

Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced a series of dramatic diplomatic and economic measures against Israel on Sunday in response to what he called “systematic violations of international law” during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Speaking during his final annual address to the Chilean Congress in Valparaíso, Boric detailed a range of policy moves for the remaining nine months of his term. 

Among them: a fast-tracked bill banning the importation of goods produced in Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law.

“We cannot continue to fund the death of children,” Boric told lawmakers, drawing both applause and strong criticism from across the political aisle. He emphasized that the policy targets “a genocidal government, not the Israeli people,” and also condemned Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack, calling for the immediate release of all hostages.

The suspension of diplomatic ties is not a full break, but builds on an earlier move in which Chile recalled its military, defense, and air attachés from the embassy in Tel Aviv. The government coordinated that action with the Ministry of Defense, citing the “dire humanitarian situation currently facing the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the disproportionate and indiscriminate military operation by the Israeli army.”

Boric also signaled support for international efforts to isolate Israel diplomatically. He publicly backed Spain’s recent decision to impose an arms embargo and revealed that Chile will seek to reduce its own reliance on Israeli defense technologies by exploring alternative suppliers in other countries.

“We do not accept equality between barbarities,” Boric said.

Chile, home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas outside the Middle East, has seen rising domestic pressure to respond more forcefully to the war in Gaza.