Four Italian soldiers were hurt, none
seriously, after a UNIFIL base in Lebanon was hit by rocket
fires Friday.
The men are not in a life-threatening condition, local sources
said.
The Shama base was hit by two rockets launched by Hezbollah, one
of which hit the outside of the bunker, whose structure did not
collapse.
Some of the soldiers were hit by glass and stone fragments and
were slightly injured.
Traces of at least one 122-millimeter rocket, which is not in
service with the Israeli army, were found on site.
The four soldiers from the Sassari Brigade, all Sardinians, are
fine, ANSA sources said.
The 'Sassarini' are not in hospital and have already spoken to
their families, reassuring them that they are OK.
The names and places of origin of the four soldiers have not
been disclosed.
An Italian UNIFIL base was recently hit by eight Hezbollah
rockets and five peacekeepers had to go to the infirmary but no
one was seriously hurt.
Premier Giorgia Meloni voiced "deep indignation" after the
latest attack.
"I learned with deep indignation and concern the news of the new
attacks suffered by the Italian headquarters of UNIFIL in
southern Lebanon, which also caused the wounding of some of our
soldiers engaged in a peacekeeping mission," she said.
"I would like to express my solidarity and closeness and that of
the Government to the injured, to their families and sincere
gratitude for the activity carried out daily by the entire
Italian contingent in Lebanon.
"I reiterate once again that such attacks are unacceptable and I
renew my appeal for the parties on the ground to guarantee, at
all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to
quickly identify those responsible".
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy's UNIFIL contingent
is staying in Lebanon but it can't be the hostage to Lebanese
militia.
"I immediately contacted the commander of the contingent,
Stefano Messina, to check on the conditions of the four
soldiers, which are not causing concern," said Crosetto.
"I also contacted my 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 the militias.
"It is intolerable that once again a UNIFIL base has been hit. I
will try to speak with the new Israeli Defense Minister, which
has been impossible since he took office, to ask him to avoid
using UNIFIL bases as a shield.
"Even more intolerable is the presence of terrorists in South
Lebanon who are endangering the safety of the UN peacekeepers
and the civilian population."
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said "they were two missiles,
from what we can see, launched by Hezbollah.
"Once again what is happening is unacceptable and just as we
told Israel to pay maximum attention, so we tell Hezbollah with
the same firmness that the Italian military cannot be touched.
"If they think they can continue to cause damage to Italian
bases, they are wrong.
"It seems that no one has serious injuries, they are only grazes
and a lieutenant seems to have light injuries. None of them are
in danger but what happened is intolerable"
Also on Friday, Premier Giorgia Meloni said she would "evaluate"
the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for alleged
war crimes in Gaza against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu but there could be "no equivalence" between Israel and
Hamas.
"I will examine in depth in the coming days the motivations that
led to the sentence of the International Criminal Court," she
said after the ICC issued warrants against Netanyahu, his former
defence minister and the (disputedly) late head of Hamas.
"Motivations should always be objective and not of a political
nature.
"The Italian Presidency of the G7 intends to place the issue on
the agenda of the next Foreign Affairs Ministerial to be held in
Fiuggi from November 25 to 26.
"One point remains firm for this government: there cannot be an
equivalence between the responsibilities of the State of Israel
and the terrorist organization Hamas".
Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said Netanyahu would be welcome in
Italy, echoing his and Meloni's friend and ally Viktor Orban of
Hungary who invited the Israeli prime minister to Budapest
saying he was challenging the ICC sentence.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden called the arrest warrant
"scandalous".
The ICC on Thursday issued the warrants for Netanyahu, his
former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war and
against Hamas's late military chief Mohammed Deif over the
October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that sparked the Israeli reprisal.
Israel says it killed Deif in July but Hamas denies this.
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