In July 2025, Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered his navy to block all coal supplies to Israel in response to the genocide in Gaza.
Only hours earlier, coal-laden vessel, the Maltese-flagged Fortune headed out from Puerto Drummond, taking supplies, mined by US company Drummond, to the Israeli port of Hadera, despite a decree Petro had issued in 2024, banning all exports.
It was able to do so because that earlier order contained a loophole that allowed mineral multinationals to honour existing contracts.
And so, on 28 August, a second decree took effect, choking off coal to Israel completely.
Petro was not taking any chances. "Not a ton of coal leaves for Israel, and I take responsibility," he pledged. Exports from Colombia, Israel’s biggest supplier of coal, dropped to zero within months.
