Brussels/Rome (ANSA) – The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, condemned Israel’s attacks on the Unifil mission in southern Lebanon, calling them an “unacceptable act.” “Another line has been dangerously crossed in Lebanon: the IdF bombing against known-position UN peace forces,” he wrote on X. “We condemn this unacceptable act, for which there is no justification.”
“The EU reiterates its full support of Unifil and its troops in the mission entrusted to it by the United Nations Security Council,” he added. The Israeli army “deliberately” targeted the UN peace force at its headquarters in Naqura, where two Indonesian soldiers were injured, and the two Italian bases 1-31 and 1-32A.
The reaction of Italy, which with about 1,200 soldiers deploys the largest contingent of Unifil, was immediate. “Unacceptable,” commented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in contact with Guido Crosetto who summoned Israel’s designated ambassador, Jonathan Peled, to express the indignation and protest of the government and the entire country, and to remind him that “neither the UN nor Italy takes orders from Israel,” which continues to prompt the blue helmets to withdraw (October 10).