Crosetto in Lebanon: “We are moving 360 degrees to avoid escalation”

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto traveled to Lebanon to meet with Italian soldiers deployed in the south of the country, close to the demarcation line with Israel. At the Shamaa military base, the minister was received by General Giovanni Brafa Musicoro, head of the Italian contingent made up mainly of the “Granatieri” Brigade from Sardinia. “The Palestinian people are not Hamas. Hamas, a terrorist organization whose sole aim is to destroy Israel, is one thing, the fate of the Palestinian people is another,” he told Rainews.

“It is a point on which everyone agrees – he stated – We must distinguish, ‘discern’ as Saint Paul would say between the two things and that is what the whole world is trying to do”, he reiterated. Speaking about the Italian contingent in Lebanon, he explained: “They have a fundamental role in pacifying and protecting the population.” “It is even more fundamental to preserve this presence – he continued – for everyone who believes in peace”. The peacekeeping forces “have more difficulties today than in previous months and spend many hours in the bunker – he stressed – because it is essential for us to guarantee the safety of the people who are here and they must protect themselves when these clashes occur”.

“It is not a NATO or bilateral mission, but a United Nations mission that aims to protect peace. We are moving 360 degrees to ensure there is no escalation or escalation, but no one is crazy enough to think about escalating the conflict,” he continued. the minister, who concluded as follows: “It would be even more dramatic if these events inflamed the Islamic world and triggered a war between Islam and the West. This is the first time I have seen collective activism to prevent the situation from getting worse. It means that some things that have happened in recent years have changed mentalities.”