Colombia manufactures first combat rifles to replace Israeli weapons

The officials announced on Monday that Indumil has successfully manufactured these combat rifles as a replacement for the Galil, which had been assembled in Colombia using Israeli components since the 1990s.

This marks a significant shift for Colombia, as it transitions from sourcing arms from Israel to domestically manufacturing its own combat rifles.

Indumil manager and retired Colonel Javier Carmago told AFP that the weapons manufacturer’s objective is to produce 400,000 lighter and more cost-effective rifles within a span of five years, with the aim of “gradually” replacing the current weapons in the armed forces.

The new combat rifles, made of steel and polymer, are 15 to 25 percent lighter.

However, experts have raised concerns about Colombia's ability to get to production capacity without incurring significant costs.

This comes as several countries have curtailed or canceled weapons deals with Israel amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a strong critic of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, severed ties with Israel in 2024 to protest the occupying regime’s war in the besieged enclave.

Last week, the United States revoked Petro’s visa after he participated in a pro-Palestinian street protest in New York City, where he repeated his call for an armed force to “free Palestine”.

Before his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Petro had called for armed intervention in Palestine, emphasizing the need to build an international army to “liberate Palestine” and stand up to “tyranny and totalitarianism” propagated by the United States and NATO.

Petro has also halted purchases of arms from the US, after President Donald Trump removed Colombia from his list of allies in the fight against drugs.

For the past three decades, Colombia’s leaders have taken up arms against guerrillas and drug traffickers involved in cocaine and illegal gold operations.