The situation is "so unstable that the safety of personnel in the area could not be guaranteed". For this reason, the Italian Government recalled the Carabinieri who were working in Jericho, a Palestinian city in the West Bank, for the training of police officers who were supposed to operate in the Gaza Strip.
Among the soldiers who are returning is also Giampaolo Carparelli, lieutenant colonel of the force, who left Sardinia, where he has lived and worked for decades and where he started a family. The officer recounted the last difficult hours during the Rai program In Mezz'ora, connected from Pisa airport, having just landed after a trip from the fiery Middle East.
Every year the Carabinieri carry out missions in those territories, to «train the Palestinian police», said Carparelli, «We give them more modern capabilities, to deal with the various problems, which must also be co-managed with the Israeli authorities. We transmit the techniques of interaction with the population." In short: under normal conditions the Italian carabinieri explain to the Palestinian police how to best manage their activities.
But with the Hamas attack on 7 October and the Israeli counter-offensive, with thousands of deaths, everything came to a head: "The Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank, so it was impossible for the students to reach the training areas in Jericho", he explained Carparelli, «from that day on, activities have been reduced to a minimum. The Israelis essentially closed all the main cities with checkpoints and it was difficult to enter and exit even for us, recognized by the Tel Aviv government. Imagine what the population must have suffered."
Government analysts have decided not to put Army personnel at further risk. And the support mission, impossible in those conditions, was interrupted.
(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)
