Four Italian observers for UNIFIL hurt, Rome points to Hezbollah

Four Italian soldiers were lightly hurt in a rocket “attack” on the UN observer mission in Lebanon, Rome says Friday, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying initial evidence pointed to Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expresses “deep indignation and concern” over “new attacks suffered by the Italian headquarters of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.”

“These attacks are unacceptable,” she says in a statement, calling on “the parties on the ground to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to quickly identify those responsible.”

Meloni does not attribute blame but her foreign minister and deputy prime minister Tajani told reporters it was likely Hezbollah.

“There were believed to be two missiles, from what it appears, they are believed to have been launched by Hezbollah,” he says in Turin.

A foreign ministry spokesman says the Italians would await an investigation by UNIFIL.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto says “four Italian soldiers were slightly injured following the explosion of two 122 mm rockets that hit the UNP 2-3 base in Shama” in southern Lebanon.

Two rockets appear to have hit a bunker on the base and the soldiers were hit by glass shards after windows shattered, Crosetto said, slamming the attack as “intolerable.”

In a statement, Crosetto says he contacted his Lebanese counterpart, “reiterating that the Italian contingent of UNIFIL remains in southern Lebanon to offer a window of opportunity for peace and cannot become hostage to attacks by militias.”

“I will try to speak with the new Israeli minister of defense, which has been impossible since he took office, to ask him to avoid using UNIFIL bases as a shield,” he says.

“Even more intolerable is the presence of terrorists in South Lebanon who are endangering the safety of the blue helmets and the civilian population,” he adds.

Source » timesofisrael.com