(Adnkronos) – Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani has rejected claims that the rightwing coalition government is failing to condemn Israel despite premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow there will be no ceasefire in Gaza and warning that plans for an intensified military offensive in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory are continuing.
“Where is the silence? If I, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, speak, I speak for the government. And didn’t the premier (Giorgia Meloni) speak about Gaza herself?” Tajani said in an interview with Corriere della Sera daily on Monday.
“Didn’t she (Meloni) say that we support the Arab countries’ plan for the reconstruction of Gaza? This means we have confirmed our concern for the Palestinian civilian population,” Tajani continued.
Under pressure from hardliners in his cabinet not to end the 19-month-old war against Gaza’s ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Netanyahu last week announced plans to step up the operation in Gaza, which officials said Israeli forces could seize in its entirety.
Since Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in March after a two-month truce, it has extended its control of the Palestinian coastal enclave, carving out what it calls a “security zone” and has blocked the entry of aid into Gaza, pushing its population towards famine as food supplies run out, the UN warns.
Amid a dearth of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Italy is “the only European government that has set up a food and health aid plan – ‘Food for Gaza’,” Tajani told Corriere della Sera.
Tajani referred to a scheme spearheaded by Italy’s government and involving the UN’s World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization, Italy’s civil protection agency and the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which began operations last year.
“We want a ceasefire, we want the release of the (remaining 59) hostages (held in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s deadly cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023,) Tajani stated.
Italy “identifies with” Pope Leo XIV’s “incontrovertible” position, Tajani said, referring to the newly elected pontiff, who has appealed for an end to war and said during his first Sunday address at the Vatican that he was “deeply hurt” by events in Gaza.
