Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has suspended Italy’s defence cooperation agreement with Israel as tensions escalate over recent military actions in Lebanon.
The decision to halt the automatic renewal of the pact was announced by Meloni on Tuesday during an event in Verona. The move follows allegations from Rome that Israeli forces fired warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon, reports AFP.
An Italian diplomatic source, confirming the suspension to AFP, remarked that maintaining the agreement under the “current situation” would have been “politically difficult.”
Originally approved in 2006 and reviewed every five years, the bilateral pact facilitates collaboration in defence industries, military training, technological research, and information technology.
The diplomatic rift widened over the past week following the incident involving the UN convoy, which resulted in damage to at least one vehicle, though no injuries were reported. In response, Italy summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a formal protest.
The situation further intensified on Monday when Israel summoned the Italian ambassador. This followed remarks by Antonio Tajani, Italy’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, who condemned what he termed “unacceptable attacks” by Israeli forces on Lebanese civilians.
Tajani made the comments while in Beirut for high-level talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi. Writing on the social media platform X, Tajani expressed Italy’s solidarity with the civilian population in Lebanon following the strikes.
While Meloni’s administration has historically been regarded as one of Israel’s strongest European allies, the government has become increasingly critical of Israeli military operations in Lebanon in recent weeks.
