The UNIFIL bases on the border between Israel and Lebanon end up in the sights of the IDF. Two Indonesian soldiers who were injured paid the price. The Naqoura headquarters are involved but also the UNP bases 1-31 and 1-32 manned by Italian personnel. An event that triggers the government’s immediate reaction with the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, who consults his counterpart Yoav Gallant and urgently summons Israel’s designated ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled. Crosetto makes it clear to both that what happened “for me and for the Italian government is absolutely not admissible”, as well as “in clear contrast to International Law and in open violation of United Nations Resolution 1701”.
The head of the Defense then explains that the fact cannot be classified as “a mistake” or “an accident” but “it could constitute a war crime”. Italy, therefore, asks for “real explanations, as quickly as possible”. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, constantly informed about the incident, hears from the general commander of the Italian mission in Lebanon, General Stefano Messina, to express the “strong closeness” of the entire executive to the approximately 1200 soldiers present on Lebanese territory. The opposition, meanwhile, goes on the attack. The president of the M5S, Giuseppe Conte, asks the government to provide “clarity” and stop the “madness” of this escalation while the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, urges Palazzo Chigi to react “firmly”. From Avs, Nicola Fratoianni finally asks the executive to report “immediately” to Parliament.
Despite criticism from many quarters, Israel still continues along the path it has taken. The ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, explains that the country is “focused” on the fight against Hezbollah and “recommends” the Unifil forces to “move 5 km north to avoid danger as the fighting intensifies and the situation along the ‘Blue Line’ remains unstable due to Hezbollah’s aggression.” A request promptly returned to the sender by Unifil. Even in Gaza the war does not stop. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, an Israeli raid hit a school shelter in Deir al-Balah, killing 28 people and wounding 54 others. According to the US, Yahya Sinwar is still in command in the Strip. In fact, the Hamas leader would be alive and hidden in a tunnel where, presumably, some hostages would also be kept to be used as human shields. “He remains the decision maker”, the assessment of the White House’s Middle East representative, Brett McGurk. Meanwhile in the evening, after the conversation that took place on Wednesday between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, the green light is expected from the Israeli War Cabinet regarding the military response to Iran after Tehran’s missile attack last week. The army will thus have free hands to start an operation when it deems it appropriate which – according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – will be “deadly, precise and above all surprising”.
#war #crime #Tempo
