The phone call between Meloni and Netanyahu. The Israeli chief of staff speaks of errors at the tactical level. But Tel Aviv demands the withdrawal of the peacekeepers
Israeli attacks against UNIFIL endanger the lives of a thousand Italian soldiers in Lebanon. This is why Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. But the response from the prime minister of Tel Aviv was not reassuring: “We will not stop in front of the terrorists. UNIFIL is withdrawing.” Meanwhile, General Luciano Portolano, chief of defense staff for several days, claims that his Israeli counterpart Herzi Halevi told him that “attacks on peacekeepers were the result of errors at the tactical level” and that it would analyze “all activities on the ground, ensuring that there will be no more errors of this kind towards UN positions”. And he recalled that the Italian military “have rules of engagement to guarantee their own protection and therefore provide an adequate response”.
The Sassari Brigade
UN peacekeepers have been in Lebanon since 1978. Over the years, 337 people have died: it is the deadliest UN mission in history. FINIL must ensure that neither side attacks the other. Over the years, she has placed herself in the line of fire to protect Lebanese civilians from Israeli attacks. Today, the mission is made up of 10,000 military personnel with reconnaissance and rescue helicopters and a naval component. It costs more than 500 million euros per year and has been extended until 2025. Netanyahu told Meloni that Israel's request to the UN is to withdraw UNIFIL forces from Lebanon. And he stressed that “in light of the atrocities of October 7, 2023, Israel will never again allow a genocidal terrorist organization to approach our borders. Neither in Gaza nor in Lebanon. » Among the Italians, many belong to the Sassari Brigade.
The escape plan
The Italians will remain in Shama, where they are responsible for the Western region (along with other countries: Malaysia, South Korea, Ghana, Ireland and Poland). But they will also stay along the blue line, where they will carry out, or rather carry out, surveillance and observation activities, Portolano said. Who, in an interview with Repubblica, also explained that the evacuation plan for civilians and soldiers is already ready. “But decisions regarding the UNIFIL contingent will be taken solely by the UN: there can be no unilateral choices, nor those imposed by Israel,” he added. He finally recalled that “our soldiers behaved in an extremely professional manner, even if they were frustrated at not being able to carry out their operational activities, thus avoiding an escalation that could have involved many other countries present in the mission of the UN. In addition to competence and physical courage, our soldiers have what I call moral courage: they take responsibility for tasks.”
The Hezbollah attack
On Sunday evening, four soldiers were killed and 60 others injured, seven of them seriously, when a drone launched from Lebanon around 7 p.m. local time struck a military base in the Binyamina region. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it wanted to ambush Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon. The Israeli military is investigating why the sirens did not sound and why interception attempts failed. The drone which managed to defeat the anti-aircraft fire, according to a reconstruction by the Kan public television, entered through the roof of the canteen of the Golani base at dinner time, while many soldiers were around the tables.
The hospital attack
The Israeli Air Force launched a targeted attack overnight against Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control center located in the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in the Hamas region. Deir al Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip. The IDF made this known on Telegram, adding that “the command and control center was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”
