France’s Macron criticizes ministers and media over alleged leaked Israeli cabinet comments

ROME: The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon is crucial to ending the war in the region and must be strengthened rather than withdrawn from combat zones as Israel has demanded, Italy’s defense minister said on Thursday.

The U.N. mission, known as UNIFIL, is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel – an area where fierce clashes broke out this month between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Israel has said U.N. troops provide a human shield for Hezbollah and has fired repeatedly at UNIFIL bases over the past week, wounding several peacekeepers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says UNIFIL should temporarily get “out of harm’s way.”

Italy has long been a major contributor to the multinational operation and has condemned Israel for its actions straining relations between two nations that were very close under the leadership of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“Israel must understand that these (UN) soldiers are not working for one side. They are there to maintain peace and promote regional stability,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in parliament on Thursday.

He said the resolution establishing UNIFIL’s mandate was last revised in 2006 and needed to be updated.

“UNIFIL is a complex mission with a difficult mandate to implement, inadequate rules of engagement and forces that are not equipped for the current conflict,” he said.