What should we do? Stay there, risking the lives of our soldiers? Israel, our long-standing ally, in this delicate moment of its history, is not open to diplomatic reasoning. Certainly, it had to respond to the Hamas massacre, but it has become unpopular globally due to the killing of innocent Palestinians. Could it have been avoided? We believe so, even though the logistical and political entanglement in Gaza, between civilians and terrorists, is one of the most complex issues of this already intricate situation.
Israel has also responded to ongoing provocations from Hezbollah on the so-called northern front, that of Lebanon, with targeted operations that have decimated the leadership of the so-called “Party of God.” But in its ground operation, it is not listening to any reasoning. UN peacekeepers must relocate, as that area needs to be secured. No more missiles on Israel, effectively rendering the buffer mission successful in peacekeeping but ineffective in preventing terrorists from launching rockets at the Israeli population.
However, these are issues for the UN to address according to the criteria and procedures of international diplomacy. Shooting at UNIFIL soldiers will not resolve the problem. In the crosshairs, as part of the UN, are also the Italian soldiers, who have been positive and appreciated peacekeepers in this difficult region of the world for years. Prime Minister Meloni’s phone call to Netanyahu was tense. What will happen next? No one can really say…
