“Withdrawal of Unifil mission serious mistake. I should be there on Friday” –

While Israel promised revenge after a Hezbollah drone managed to evade the Iron Dome and hit a military base, tensions with Unifil remain high on the Lebanese front. The foreign ministers of Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom responded with a joint note asking Tel Aviv to “immediately end the attacks”. “The withdrawal of the Unifil mission, on the basis of a unilateral request would be a serious mistake”, said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today in the replies to the communications to the Chamber in view of the European Council of 17 and 18 October, “we ask for full application of UN Security Council Resolution 1701“.

“I personally discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. They want a withdrawal of the Unifil mission. I believe that a withdrawal based on a unilateral request would be a grave mistake. I think our soldiers will be invaluable when we manage to achieve a ceasefire “, explained the prime minister, announcing that she should “be in Lebanon on Friday”. “I have made no secret that I am worried about the Middle Eastern crisis. We must dedicate all our energy to preventing it from getting out of hand, aware of the fact that balance, which is often not recognized in this Chamber, is our greatest strength We must maintain an open dialogue with everyone, a frank dialogue, and we cannot respond with instinct on matters that require the use of reason. I understand Israel’s reasons but this does not mean that I agree with all of them Israel’s choices”, Meloni reiterated firmly.

It would not be an excellent choice to give the signal to no longer support Israel in the fight against Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism. “We must pay attention to the risks we will run if we give the signal to abandon and isolate Israel” because “this is the underlying strategy of Hamas and those who inspired the terrorist attacks. We must be prudent, because if the plan was to isolate Israel to erase the Jewish State we must distinguish between the issue of government and the issue of the State of Israel’s right to exist,” he added.