(Adnkronos) – As Israel expands its military offensive in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, Rome has asked the Jewish state “to guarantee the maximum security” of over 1,000 Italian peacekeepers deployed at the border.
“We are carefully assessing what is happening to Italy’s military contingent on the border between Israel and the (Lebanese) territory controlled by Hezbollah, where the situation is extremely tense and fighting is raging,” Tajani stated.
Tajani said he has asked Israel’s president Isaac Herzog and its foreign minister Israel Katz “to guarantee the maximum security of our military during the attacks their armed forces are carrying out against Hezbollah.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel said had committed a further division of troops to what it described as “limited, localised, targeted operational activities” against “Hezbollah terror targets and infrastructure in southwestern Lebanon”.
Israel’s invasion of Lebanon had previously focused on the eastern side of the border.
Israel’s Arabic language spokesperson again issued a message on Tuesday advising residents of southern Lebanon to flee their homes, and warning that anybody moving south was in danger.
Israeli air strikes on Beirut continued overnight. Lebanese media reported continued Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and in the east and the south of the country.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) now has four divisions engaged in the conflict. The ground offensive began on 30 September.
Over a fifth of Lebanon’s population are thought to have been uprooted by the conflict. About 60,000 people in northern Israel have also had to flee over the past year since cross-border conflict erupted with Hezbollah amid Israel’s war in Gaza following the deadly Hamas incursion on 7 October 2023.
