The Italian government blocked all new arms deals with Israel within weeks after it launched a war on Gaza, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told the Senate, according to the ANSA news agency.
Speaking to the Senate Tuesday, Meloni defended the arms agreements Italy has with Israel, saying the conditions were stricter than those of other Western countries.
"After the start of operations in Gaza, the government immediately suspended all new export licenses and all agreements signed after Oct. 7 were not implemented," she said during a debate ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit.
"The licenses authorized before are all being analyzed on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority at the foreign ministry."
"I want to recall that the Italian policy of completely blocking of all new licenses is much more restrictive than that applied by our partners – France, Germany and the United Kingdom," the Italian leader added.
"These partners continue to use case-by-case assessments, including for new licenses."
"We have blocked everything," she said.
Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza, following an incursion by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, last October, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
The Israeli military has killed more than 42,400 people since, mostly women and children, and over 99,100 injured, according to Gazan health authorities.
It has also displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
