(Adnkronos) – The 19-month-old war in famine-hit Gaza is the most worrying of the current international crises, Italy said Wednesday, underling the government’s support for Pope Leo XIV’s appeal for an urgent ceasefire.
“On Gaza we stand with Pope Leo XIV who on Sunday in his first Angelus called for a ceasefire,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Il Fatto Quotidiano daily.
“And when we say that we support Egypt’s peace plan (for Gaza and its reconstruction), it seems to me that our position is quite clear,” Tajani said.
The Israeli blockade on war-ravaged Gaza has stopped “almost all” food and other essential supplies entering the Palestinian enclave since March, including aid that Italy’s ‘Food for Gaza’ scheme was delivering, Tajani recalled, while admitting the situation was”not straightforward”.
“Again this morning, I spoke to Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sarr, who wants the Americans to provide aid,” said Tajani.
“But then I spoke to Palestinian Authority premier Mohammed Mustafa and he does not want the Americans involved,” Tajani went on.
“The situation is not straightforward, but we are applying pressure diplomatically. Aid must get into Gaza as soon as possible,” Tajani stated.
Tajani will report to Italy’s parliament on Gaza “by the end of May”, he said.
