Italian opposition demands government withdraw ambassador from Tel Aviv

Rome – The Israeli army’s bombing of the Tabeen School in Gaza City, which killed at least 100 Palestinians, has sparked angry reactions from Italian parties, some of which have called on the government to withdraw Rome’s ambassador from Tel Aviv.

According to local media, Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement (opposition), and Angelo Bonelli, leader of the Green Party and the Left Alliance, called on the government to withdraw the Italian ambassador from Tel Aviv, in a strong protest against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the bombing of the Tabeen School in Gaza City.

The media also quoted Eli Schlein, leader of the Democratic Party (the largest opposition party), as saying that “the bombing of schools and hospitals is a war crime, and it is unacceptable to continue to watch what is happening in Gaza.”

Schlein stressed the need to launch an initiative at the European and international levels to stop Netanyahu.

“It is absolutely unacceptable to bomb a school in Gaza and cause the death of so many innocent people,” wrote Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and leader of the Forza Italia party (one of the partners in the right-wing coalition government), on his X account.

Tajani, who leads the conservative party founded by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, called on Israel to respect humanitarian law and cease fire immediately, and on Hamas to release the detainees immediately.

According to the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, Tajani held a video meeting with ambassadors from countries in the region (which he did not mention) in order to follow up on developments in the region.

On Saturday, the government media office in Gaza announced that more than 100 people were killed and dozens were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted them while they were performing the dawn prayer at the “Al-Tabi’in” school, where displaced people fleeing Israeli military operations had taken refuge.

The Israeli army claimed that it killed 19 fighters from the Palestinian factions movement, during its targeting of the school.

The factions movement strongly denied the validity of Israel’s claims about the presence of militants in the school.

With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving nearly 132,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.

In contempt of the international community, Tel Aviv continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Anatolia