Settler violence in the West Bank causes new friction between Italy and Israel. The latest episode involved two carabinieri serving at the Consulate General in Jerusalem, “made to kneel under the fire of a machine gun and interrogated” by a man, while they were carrying out an inspection near Ramallah.
The protest in Rome was immediate: Giorgia Meloni, who let her strong irritation filter through for a fact deemed “unacceptable”, spoke to Antonio Tajani to agree on the summons of the Israeli ambassador Jonathan Peled. And the representative of the Jewish State expressed regret for the incident, indicating that his government will carry out the appropriate investigations.
Just two months ago, near Jericho, three Italian activists were attacked while they slept by a group of masked men who wanted to chase them out of the area. The two carabinieri – the Farnesina reported – were carrying out a reconnaissance to prepare a mission of the EU ambassadors in a village in the territory of the Palestinian National Authority. At one point, they were threatened by an armed man in civilian clothes who pointed a rifle at them. The soldiers, passports and diplomatic cards and cars with diplomatic plates, were “interrogated” by the civilian but, respecting their rules of engagement, avoided responding with violence to the initial threats. The man passed them to an unidentified person on the phone who said the two were inside a military area and needed to leave.
Yet, after a check with Cogat, the Israeli military command for the occupied Palestinian territories, it was confirmed that no military area exists there. The affair ended with the Carabinieri returning unharmed to the Consulate, who reported the facts to the Embassy and the Carabinieri Headquarters. Commander General Salvatore Luongo then contacted them by telephone to express closeness and solidarity. Underlining that “they have demonstrated, once again, great delicacy, courage and professionalism, avoiding falling into provocations and thus preventing the situation from escalating”. After the incident, the Italian ambassador was instructed to submit a verbal note of protest to the Jerusalem government at the highest level, including the IDF general staff, the police and the Shin Bet. Minister Tajani subsequently asked to summon the Israeli ambassador to Italy to ask for clarifications and confirm the harsh protest, shared by the opposition, from the Democratic Party to M5s, from Avs and Iv.
Last November 30, ten masked settlers broke into the community of Ein al-Duyuk at dawn, surprising three Italian and one Canadian volunteers who had arrived in the West Bank to provide assistance to Palestinian civilians while they were sleeping. The three had been robbed and beaten, with warnings to leave and never return. Also on that occasion Tajani had spoken of a “very serious” fact, launching an appeal to the Israeli government to prevent “the continuation of this violence, which does not serve the implementation of the peace plan for which we are all working”.
Appeals shared several times by other European governments and the UN, while Donald Trump also recently asked Benyamin Netanyahu to “change course” on policies in the West Bank, so as not to compromise peace efforts in Gaza. Israeli settler violence has sharply increased since the October 7 Hamas massacre that triggered the war in Gaza.
And they continue even now, despite the ceasefire in force in the Strip since 10 October. A recent UN report recalled that attacks on Palestinians have gone hand in hand with the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The Netanyahu government, under pressure from the nationalist group, has authorized around ninety new ones in the last three years.