The Chilean government on Thursday announced plans to open an embassy in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
This came in a speech delivered by Chilean President Gabriel Boric at a Christmas party with the Palestinian community in Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Borik, who was quoted by Euro News said, “One of the decisions we made as a government, and we did not announce it publicly, and I risk that now, is that we will raise the level of our official representation in Palestine, from Chargé d’Affairs to an embassy that will open during our government.”
The Palestinian foreign ministry praised the decision, which it said “affirms the principled position of Chile and its president in support of international law and the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state”, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Chile currently has a representative office with the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, which was opened in April 1998. As for Palestine, it has an embassy in Santiago.
In 2011, Chile recognized Palestine as a state, and then supported its accession to UNESCO.
More than 300,000 Palestinians live in Chile, many from the occupied West Bank and Bethlehem.
