ITALIAN PM DRAGGED OVER ISRAEL HYPOCRISY

Italy’s support for what the International Court of Justice has called Israel’s ‘plausible’ g*nocide in Gaza has come under fire. Angelo Bonelli, Italian parliamentarian and spokesperson of the Italian left-wing political party Green Europe (@AngeloBonelli1 on X), denounced Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government on 14 May.

Italian support for Israel survived the 7 October 2023 escalation of Israel’s 77-year occupation of Palestine, with Italy immediately declaring its support for Israel. Thus began a hike in Italian arms transfers, such as the $2.3 million in arms and munitions sold to Israel in the final three months of 2023. In December 2023, Italy exported $1.47 million in arms, three times the value of its December 2022 exports. Meanwhile, Italian law forbids sales to entities at war or international human rights violators.

However, Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto defended the sales, saying they fulfilled outstanding contracts and that Italy had ascertained the weapons wouldn’t be used against civilians. Francesco Vignarca, head of a national pacifist network, however, criticised the lack of clarity on the arms sales and attempts to reform the export law.

Italy also hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing it would not fulfil its obligations to carry out an arrest warrant against him and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Italy's Foreign and Justice Ministries claimed immunity for visiting leaders is permissible under the Vienna Convention.

Israel’s massacres of Palestinians in Gaza, ongoing since 7 October 2023 with a brief reprieve in January 2025, possibly claimed more than 186,000 Palestinian lives by July 2024, according to the Lancet medical journal. Israel has also weaponised humanitarian aid deliveries, with convoys of trucks carrying essentials like food stranded outside Gaza as its population grapples with a hunger crisis. In 2024, the United Nations reported 100 per cent of Gaza’s people faced acute food shortages.

Video credit: la Repubblica (@repubblica on X)