Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday severely condemned Israel’s continued military campaign in Gaza, describing it as “unacceptable” and calling for an immediate halt to the aggression. He also firmly rejected any forced eviction of Palestinians from the land.
Addressing parliament as Western criticism of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks mounts, Tajani said, “The legitimate response of the Israeli government towards a horrible and senseless act of terrorism is unfortunately assuming totally dramatic and unacceptable forms, which we call on Israel to end immediately.”
While Italy has traditionally been a friend of Israel, the ongoing and aggressive military offensive has caused unease within its right-wing governing coalition. Over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the conflict, Gaza health officials said.
“The bombing should stop, humanitarian aid should restart as soon as possible, respect for international humanitarian law must be restored,” Tajani also said in an impassioned debate in the lower house of parliament.
There has been a sharpening of opposition parties’ criticism of the government line over Gaza. They have called for a demonstration in Rome on June 7, calling for sanctions against Israel and asking Italy to recognize the State of Palestine officially.
Riccardo Ricciardi, an MP in the 5-Star Movement, blamed the Italian and EU leadership for being accomplices to human rights abuses, declaring, “The political, moral and intellectual baseness which all of you, Italian and European ruling classes, are attaining, will condemn you as complicit in extermination, genocide and inhuman crime.”
Tajani reiterated Italy is available to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and is in favor of establishing a Palestinian state by means of negotiations. Nevertheless, he emphasized Italy’s firm opposition to any transfer of Gaza’s people elsewhere, an action allegedly proposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and firmly rejected by most Arab countries.
“The deportation of Palestinians from Gaza is not and will never be an acceptable solution,” Tajani declared.
He also repeated Italy’s enthusiasm to contribute to a future Arab-led peacekeeping force in Gaza.
