The UNIFIL mission remains untouched . The Italian soldiers, approximately 1,300 out of 2,800 blue helmets, including 500 from the Sassari Brigade, remain in Lebanon despite the risks posed by the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has launched a ground operation.
Guido Crosetto , speaking on Rete4's 'Diario del Giorno', was categorical: "The United Nations has decided that the UNIFIL mission will end next year. The first to ask us to stay in this phase were the Lebanese themselves and the United Nations itself, and the contingents themselves realize the value of this peacekeeping mission in ending this ongoing war," the Defense Minister said.
Just this morning Matteo Salvini asked to evaluate the withdrawal of the contingent , following the wounding of an infantryman from the Sassari Brigade , hit by debris from a missile shot down by anti-aircraft guns.
And Crosetto himself reiterates that the priority has now changed: "What matters to us, more than the UNIFIL mission, is ensuring the safety of the people representing the UN in a peacekeeping mission, namely our soldiers and those of other contingents. This is something we have succeeded in doing so far ."
Regarding Lebanon's future, "there are two alternatives," the minister continues: "Either Hezbollah is disarmed by a multilateral UN mission, or Israel disarms them with war, as it is doing now." And " our presence is Lebanon's salvation, the way to avoid a new civil war that could then perhaps spread to Syria or Jordan . The biggest problem when these fires break out is putting them out as quickly as possible: that's what the UNIFIL mission is doing."
UNIFIL's mission is not to disarm pro-Iranian fighters: the UN mission, highly respected especially among the Lebanese, is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, controlling the buffer zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River . Its objectives include facilitating the deployment of the Lebanese regular army in the south of the country and creating the conditions for a permanent ceasefire agreement. These conditions, however, do not currently exist. In the current context, the military is also helping the Lebanese civilian population with food, medicine, and emergency kits: approximately 900,000 people have been displaced by the IDF invasion .
The situation is different in Iraq, where several Italian soldiers were evacuated following the attacks on their bases: "In Baghdad, last night, through and with the agreement of our intelligence services, we evacuated some of our soldiers in complete safety. They have already left Iraq and arrived in Kurdistan and will now arrive in Turkey and then return to Italy," Crosetto reported, adding that "others will be brought back from Erbil and Kuwait." "Those who remain," the minister concluded, "must have guarantees of safety and something to do. All the others have been brought back and will be brought back shortly."
(Unioneonline)