2023-10-22 17:14:00
”We are worried about the hostages, the 19 Italians in Gaza and the numerous Italian families in northern Israel” on the border with Lebanon. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani interviewed by Monica Maggioni in In Mezz’ora on Rai Tre. ”The first concern is to free the hostages, there are also two Italian-Israeli ones. Then there is a group of 19 Italians south of Gaza, who we hope to be able to get out as soon as possible”, explained Tajani. ”There is a very tense situation in northern Israel. Some villages will have to be evacuated and there are also numerous Italian families here,” Tajani explained, saying that ”so far there have been skirmishes, we must avoid escalation”.
”It is right to eradicate the cancer of Hamas terrorism, it is not right to involve the Palestinian people in this action” he says. ”Civilians are the priority, be they hostages, be they people who want to leave Gaza, be they Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. Because one thing must be clear: Hamas is not the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people are not Hamas”, underlined the deputy prime minister.
“Italy’s message of peace”
“Italy plays a leading role” in the crisis in the Middle East, said the Foreign Minister, and is “in contact with all interlocutors” to “bring a message of peace”. “The Italian government is in continuous contact with Qatar”, explained Tajani, and “I brought the messages of peace from the Arab world to Israel”. ”We asked the Arab countries to tell Hamas not to continue launching rockets towards Israel,” adds the head of the Farnesina. It is ”a situation of very high tension” and as Italy ”we are working to avoid an escalation, a widening of the conflict to Lebanon and Iran”. ”We brought a message of peace to everyone, even to Israel,” Tajani explained, saying that as Italy ”we try to be the bridge between the Arab, Jewish and Christian worlds”.
Lebanon and Iran
”We are all working to avoid an escalation, a widening of the conflict to Lebanon and Iran” declared the deputy prime minister. ”It is a moment of great difficulty”, added Tajani, stating that ”yesterday’s meeting organized by Egypt was a moment of dialogue”. Tajani then recalled his missions ”in recent weeks in Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia”.
The price of gas
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani does not see ”concerns with the current supplier countries because we have excellent relations with the entire Arab world even if we are supporters of Israel’s right to resist”. Speaking on In Mezz’ora on Rai Tre, Tajani added that if the price of gas were to skyrocket ”we are ready to react, but with the maneuver we have shown that we are serious, credible and reliable. We are able to deal with the situation, we have given a strong signal to the markets, we will continue to monitor”. Tajani then added that ”Italy has managed to protect its economy also thanks to the agreements made by abandoning Russian supplies. We are working for nuclear power and self-production to no longer be subject to blackmail in cases of crisis”.
#Tajani #Worried #Italian #hostages