by Giovanni Giacalone
The recent incidents involving UNIFIL compounds in southern Lebanon caused a series of protests from the UN and those European governments with peacekeeping troops in the area; specifically, Italy, Spain and France.
UNIFIL said the Israeli military “deliberately” hit several of their posts, including the headquarters at Naqoura. At least five UNIFIL soldiers have been lightly injured in a spate of recent incidents.
The Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that the refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah and endangers them” adding that the IDF is doing whatever it can to prevent such incidents. However, the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is just get them out of the danger zone”.
Netanyahu also said that European leaders should be criticizing Hezbollah, not Israel, for using UNIFIL as a “human shield.”
Italy currently maintains 1.068 soldiers in Lebanon to support the UNIFIL mission; Spain 676 soldiers, and France 673, making them the three EU countries with the largest military presence in the area, as reported by the UNIFIL website.
The statements coming from the Italian Defense
Shortly after the first incident when, On October 10th, two Indonesian peacekeepers were slightly injured by Israeli fire, Italy’s minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, immediately accused Israel by saying that the attacks “could constitute war crimes,” and asked for an explanation because “it was not a mistake.”
Crosetto described the “shooting” as “intolerable,” lodging protests with his Israeli counterpart and Israel’s ambassador to Italy. He also added: “My intention is to let spaces of peace prevail, not to let the idea pass that there could be a continuous war“. In addition, Crosetto stated that “Italy does not take orders from Israel”.
Such statements seemed quite short-tempered and impulsive both in timing and content. The most appropriate measure would have been to seek clarification from the Israeli government and analyze the episode in detail before making accusations.
Indeed, a defense minister has the duty to defend his own troops, but with the proper manners, procedures, means and timing. In addition, Israel is not an enemy of Italy. The Israeli government immediately opened an investigation on the issue, and it would have no reason not to provide an explanation.
As a matter of fact, the reply from the Israeli embassy in Rome came shortly after:
“Israel appreciates the assistance of UNIFIL donor countries, especially Italy, and thanks them for their efforts to prevent an escalation in our region. Since October 8, Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets at Israel and tens of thousands of Israeli citizens have been forced to evacuate their homes in the north. Unfortunately, Hezbollah is trying to hide near UNIFIL bases and Israel has already discovered tunnels and weapons depots near that area. Israel has repeatedly recommended to the Italian UNIFIL military to withdraw part of their forces from the area for security reasons, but unfortunately this request has been rejected. Israel is investigating the incident very carefully and will continue to make every effort not to harm UN forces and people not involved in the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah”.
The Israeli embassy later released a second statement:
“Unfortunately, the terrorist organization Hezbollah has installed its military capabilities undisturbed near the UNIFIL bases.
For some time now, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel by operating near these bases, shooting into Israeli territory and digging tunnels near the aforementioned bases to drag Israel into some provocation. Israel is forced to respond to these attacks, to protect its forces and the safety of its citizens.
Israel reiterates that it is not interested in an escalation in Lebanon, but is obliged to protect its citizens in accordance with international law.
As promised, Israel has opened an investigation into the latest cases and will transmit the results in a transparent manner to its counterpart in Italy. In this regard, the Israeli military attaché will meet the leaders of the Italian army today, to illustrate the details of the investigation.
Israel acts transparently and in close cooperation with Italy and with the UNIFIL forces operating on the ground, and regrets any damage to the United Nations and forces not involved. Israel appreciates Italy’s efforts to prevent escalation in our areas and its contribution to UNIFIL. The international community must demand the disarmament and withdrawal of Hezbollah forces in accordance with UN resolution 1701”.
On October 13th, Italian UNIFIL commander, general Stefano Messina, discussing the Israeli fire on UNIFIL positions stated:
“Mistakes, if they are mistakes, are clearly possible but should be avoided…”
Messina also defined Hezbollah “a militia and a political party” adding that “Israel is trying to reduce the presence of Hezbollah”.
The General concluded by saying: “We are the eyes and ears of the international community and we will be here until we are asked to, with pride and determination”.
On October 15th, during a Senate audition in view of the European Council of October 17 and 18, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after the start of Israeli operations in Gaza, the Italian government suspended the shipment of any form of armament to Israel: all contracts signed after October 7, 2023 have not been applied. Meloni added that all contracts prior to that date were analyzed case by case by Uama (Unit for the authorization of armament materials), the competent authority at the Minister of Foreign affairs. The Italian PM added: “Where there is a risk that this material could be used in the current crisis, we will not proceed…This is how Italy is proceeding, and I believe it is a very serious way of proceeding”.
Regarding the Israeli offensive against the UNIFIL base, Meloni said:
“The attitude of the Israeli forces is completely unjustified and a clear violation of UN resolution 1701. We must work towards the full implementation of the resolution, strengthening the full capacity of Unifil and the Lebanese Armed Forces”.
The Italian interests in Lebanon
On October 15th , Strategic Advisor to the U.S. Government, Edward Luttwak, who has a long experience and in-depth knowledge regarding Italian political and institutional issues, posted on Twitter:
“I am sorry that the Prime Minister (Italian) defends UNIFIL, which was supposed to keep Hezbollah away from the Israeli border and never did anything while successive commanders were promoted. The Israelis found many assault bunkers a few meters from the UNIFIL positions”.
Figure 1 Edward Luttwak’s post
This is indeed a central issue. It’s pointless for PM Giorgia Meloni, for the Italian Defense Minister Crosetto, and general Messina, to talk about the “violation of resolution 1701”, about “creating spaces of peace”, and about “being the eyes and ears of the international community”, when Hezbollah propagated with its bases and weapon storages all over south Lebanon, building infrastructures right next to UNIFIL bases and even underneath.
Those “eyes and ears” must have been blind and deaf. Where were Meloni and Crosetto when Hezbollah was hammering Israeli urban centers in the north with their rockets? What about the 60,000 displaced Israelis who want to go back to their homes, but they cannot because UNIFIL did not do what they are being paid to do?
According to Italian sources, the basic salary for a soldier on a mission abroad is around 3,500 euros per month. More years of service abroad or higher ranks, such as officers, receive up to 7,800 euros per month. In addition to wages, logistics, fuel and ammunition consumption, vehicle maintenance, food and health care for soldiers must be considered. The overall cost is around 1,708 million euros per year for 2023.
Figure 2 Hezbollah positions next to UNIFIL compounds
As to Crosetto’s stating that “Italy does not take orders from Israel”, he is correct. However, it can also raise some questions, considering what the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, stated in April 2024 during the TV show “Stasera Italia” on Rete 4 channel, following Iran’s first missile attack against Israel:
“The Iranians have assured us that our Italian soldiers in the area will be respected…The Italian contingent in Lebanon is under the aegis of the UN, it is in a condition to be protected, I don’t think there are any dangers either for the Italian soldiers or for the Italian citizens in Israel and Iran”. As for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the minister explained how he was assured that “only ships that bring weapons to Israel would be attacked”. (Agi, Apr 14,2024).
Figure 3 Italian PM Giorgia Meloni playing table soccer with the Italian UNIFIL troops in Lebanon
Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, cannot be blamed for asking UNIFIL troops to leave, because they clearly failed to do what they were supposed to, and that is maintaining peace and keeping Hezbollah away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Some serious Italian controversies on Lebanon and the Jews
Regarding the Italian/UNIFIL activity in Lebanon, it is worth recalling what Francesco Cossiga (prime minister of Italy from 1979 to 1980 and the president of Italy from 1985 to 1992) once said during a long interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, as exposed by the website Focus on Israel in a 2008 article entitled “Cossiga to the Italian Jews: we sold you out”:
“Italy, he believes, is implementing a similar agreement with Hezbollah today. UNIFIL forces would be invited to move freely in southern Lebanon, without fear for their safety, in exchange for a closed eye and the possibility of rearming given to Hezbollah. “The Moro Agreement was never clearly explained to me, I only hypothesized its existence. In the case of Hezbollah I can affirm with certainty that there is an agreement between the parties,” Cossiga says with certainty, “If they come to question me, I will testify before the judges that these are state secrets, and I am not required to reveal my sources.”
Unfortunately, Cossiga’s interview did not find much space among the Italian media.
And, since the discussion moved to the first decade of the 2000, it is also worth recalling what the current Italian Defense minister, Guido Crosetto, said back in September 2005, when he held the role of credit manager for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.
Crosetto had spoken about a plan hatched by “Jewish and American Freemasonry that was already at the gates” to get their hands on Italian banks after having ousted the pro-Catholic Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio. The statement had led to a harsh condemnation from the then president of the Italian Jewish communities, Amos Luzzato, who cited a revival of the “ghosts of the Fascist 1930s”, as reported at the time by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Figure 4 Fascist/Nazi salute performed by Hezbollah
In conclusion, the UNIFIL incidents have uncovered a series of situations that until now had gone unnoticed or perhaps tolerated, not reported. The dynamics on the ground have radically changed, however, and although countries like Italy, Spain and France insist on the rhetoric of “respecting the UNIFIL mission”, it is now clear that it was a total failure. It is not just a matter of not being able to safeguard peace, but also of having allowed Hezbollah to spread throughout the area by building posts attached to the UNIFIL bases. Is it possible that no one noticed anything? What were the soldiers doing all day?
What has emerged so far is likely only the tip of the iceberg, and as the IDF advances into Lebanon, much more is at risk of coming to light.
Italy also needs to decide if Hezbollah is either a “militia” and a political party, or a terrorist organization and an Iranian proxy that is destabilizing Lebanon. The “run with the hare and hunt with the hound” policy line will not be an option anymore.