A “frank and open” conversation, but with clear and unequivocal contents. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, received a phone call yesterday from the Head of State of Israel, Isaac Herzog. At the center of the conversation was the dramatic escalation in the Middle East and, in particular, the growing risks for the soldiers employed in the UN mission on the border with Lebanon after the latest attacks on the Italian contingent of the mission in Shama.
The end of the Quirinale
During the conversation, Mattarella firmly expressed Italy’s position, emphasizing the need for a radical diplomatic change. The Head of State underlined the urgency of “abandoning the state of permanent war in the Middle East”, a warning that aims to interrupt the spiral of violence that is engulfing the entire region.
The most critical point of the conversation concerned the safety of the peacekeepers. Mattarella defined the attacks carried out against the troops engaged in the Unifil contingent as “unacceptable”, where Italy is present with a significant number of men and equipment. At the same time, the President called for rigorous respect for the right of navigation in international waters: a reference that seems directed to the case of the Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza, stopped in international waters off the Greek coast in recent weeks. The Israeli action had been condemned by the Italian government, which had spoken of the “seizure of the boats” and asked the Israeli government to “immediately” release the “illegally stopped” Italians.
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It is no coincidence that a reference came from the Quirinale at a time when a new departure of the Flotilla from the Turkish coasts is expected in the next few hours. Finally, Mattarella reaffirmed the very hard line of the Republic against any resurgence of anti-Semitism.
Blue helmets under fire
The President’s words come at a time of extreme tension on the field. The Naqoura headquarters, Unifil’s main base and home to the Italian contingent, has repeatedly come under fire. In the last 48 hours alone, the UN mission has reported a series of disturbing episodes but which do not represent anything new in the context of escalation which has been witnessed for months on the Lebanese front. A drone, presumably attributable to Hezbollah, exploded in the last few hours inside the base, damaging some buildings. A similar event occurred last Sunday.
Other aircraft exploded a few meters from the perimeter of the UN station, in areas where the presence of Israeli troops (IDF) was reported, although preliminary investigations into an aircraft that crashed on Monday 11 May confirmed its Iranian origin, suggesting a launch by Hezbollah militias.