(Adnkronos) – Italy is waiting for “explanations and apologies” from Israel, foreign minister Antonio Tajan said after its military fired at the Unifil positions in southern Lebanon, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers on Thursday.
“An investigation has been opened and we are now awaiting explanations and apologies from Israel,” Tajani told Tg2 post late Thursday.
“It is unacceptable to fire shells and small arms at a Unifil base. We must ensure what happened in recent days not does re-occur,” Tajani said.
Tajani and defence minister Guido Crosetto have called the attacks on Unifil “totally unacceptable”
Crosetto told a news conference the attacks could be war crimes and a “very serious violation of international military law”.
Crosetto added that he had summoned the Israeli ambassador to demand an explanation for the attack.
Unifil, established in 1978, has some 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries. Italy, which has over 1,000 troops and Indonesia, with over 1,200 are currently the biggest contributors.
Tajani said earlier this week he had received assurances from Israel’s president and foreign minister that Italy’s Unifil peacekeepers were safe.
