The Italian government blocked all new arms deals with the Jewish state just weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday, the local ANSA news agency reported.
“After the start of [Israeli military] operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licenses, and all agreements signed after October 7th were not implemented,” the Italian leader stated during a debate at Italy’s Senate ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit.
Meloni told lawmakers that licenses authorized before Oct. 7 are being “analyzed on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority at the foreign ministry.”
“We have blocked everything,” the Italian premier declared, noting that the policies of her government are “much more restrictive than that applied by our partners—France, Germany and the United Kingdom.”
Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27 following a weeks-long air campaign in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in the northwestern Negev, in which Palestinian terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, wounded thousands of others, and abducted 251—97 of whom remain in Gaza.
Among those murdered were three dual Italian-Israeli nationals.
Italy’s rhetoric toward the Jewish state has become increasingly hostile in recent weeks as Israel Defense Forces troops fight Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon in an attempt to return the approximately 60,000 displaced Israeli civilians to the country’s north.
Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily in support of Hamas since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones at the Jewish state. These attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage.
In her speech to the Senate on Tuesday, Meloni decried alleged Israeli attacks on U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers. Rome is Europe’s largest contributor of troops, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said they will remain in the region despite the escalation.
“Even if there have been no casualties or extensive damage, I think that Israel’s attack on UNIFIL cannot be considered acceptable,” she said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected the allegations that Israel had targeted U.N. troops in Lebanon, while noting that Jerusalem “repeatedly asked UNIFIL to get out of harm’s way.”
Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi called Italian Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Luciano Portolano to discuss the security situation in Lebanon and “associated challenges,” the IDF said.
Halevi addressed Hezbollah’s exploitation of areas surrounding UNIFIL positions for terrorism against the State of Israel, Jerusalem stated.
Halevi noted that the IDF would continue to probe the circumstances surrounding reports of harm to Italian UNIFIL forces and expressed his appreciation for the relationship between the two militaries, per the IDF.
