US calls on Italy to send military police to occupied Palestine

The US administration has called on Italy to send military forces to Gaza and the occupied West Bank ahead of a ceasefire, purportedly to train Palestinian police forces.

The Italian defense minister, Guido Crosetto, has said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken contacted him personally with the request of sending Italy's Carabinieri military police to the occupied territories.

The Minister reported to the parliamentary defense committee the request by Blinken to send 200 Carabinieri troops to Jericho, also known as Arīḥā, in the occupied West Bank.

• US plan to send Italy's military police to occupied Palestine “nonsensical”
  

  Observers: US plan to send Italy's military police to occupied Palestine “nonsensical”

  The US administration calls on Italy to send military forces to Gaza and the occupied West Bank ahead of a ceasefire which only Washington sees as a viable option.

Crosetto claims the deployment is aimed at training the Palestinian police forces.

There is no ceasefire in Gaza. I couldn't even imagine sending our police force there.

... an Italian mission in the West Bank should be approved by all parties involved, and conditions are simply not there.

Blinken's request seems to me nonsensical. He is not in any position to negotiate with whomever [sic] in the region.

Alberto Negri, Geopolitical Analyst

• Italy summons Israeli ambassador after UN observers wounded in Lebanon
  

  Italy summons Israeli ambassador after UN observers wounded in Lebanon

  Italy’s defense minister summons the Israeli ambassador to Rome after UN peacekeepers are targeted in southern Lebanon.

Italy's Carabinieri are a police force with a military statute operating jointly under the country's Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior.

Crosetto has noted that security conditions must be assessed prior to sending an Italian police force contingent to the occupied territories.

What is very serious, besides Blinken’s request, which I find utterly inappropriate, is that Italy's contingent is that UNIFIL, United Nation Peacekeeping and Training Mission to Lebanon, cannot do the job they are there for because Israel has repeatedly fired on UNIFIL positions.

Federico De Renzi, Geopolitical Analyst

• UN chief: Israeli attacks on UNIFIL 'may constitute a war crime'
  

  UN chief: Israeli attacks on UNIFIL 'may constitute a war crime'

  The UN chief strongly condemns attacks on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon as a violation of international law and a war crime.

Italy and Israel have recently held talks in al-Quds, during which Rome has proposed creating a buffer zone with a reinforced contingent of UN peacekeepers on the border between Lebanon and the occupied territories.

While earlier this month, Italy's defense minister said that Israeli attacks on the positions of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon could be war crimes, he has not been able to utter a single word of condemnation for Tel Aviv's genocidal campaign in Gaza and crimes in the occupied West Bank.

• UN experts warn states helping Israel ‘complicit’ in genocide
  

  UN experts warn states helping Israel may be ‘complicit’ in genocide

  UN experts have also examined the implications of last month’s UN General Assembly vote demanding the occupation end within a year.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir

www.presstv.co.uk