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Italy PM announces arms embargo on Israel

October 17, 2024 at 6:55 pm

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks to the press during the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium on October 16, 2024. [Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency]

Italy has imposed an arms embargo on Israel amid the Occupation’s ongoing invasion and bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, in a move that Rome says precedes action yet to be taken by other Western states.

According to Italian news agency, ANSA, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revealed on Tuesday during a debate at the Italian Senate that, following Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October last year, “the government immediately suspended all new export licences, and all agreements signed after October 7th were not implemented”.

Stating that the authorisation of arms export licences are being “analysed on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority at the Foreign Ministry”, the Italian Premier declared that “we have blocked everything”.

READ: Italy says ready to send troops to UN for Palestinian state recognized by Israel

Meloni also acknowledged that the policies of her government are “much more restrictive than that applied by our partners – France, Germany and the United Kingdom”.

A primary cause of Italy’s reported embargo and Meloni’s open declaration of it is Israel’s recent attacks on peacekeepers in the United Nations’ Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL), to which Italy is the largest contributor of troops.

The Italian Prime Minister condemned those attacks at the Senate, stating that “even if there have been no casualties or extensive damage, I think that Israel’s attack on UNIFIL cannot be considered acceptable”.

The revelation also comes after Italian opposition leader of the party, Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, called for such an embargo – as well as the establishment of Palestinian statehood – in an Instagram post.

READ: Italy PM to visit Lebanon, says UN mission should not be withdrawn