Several hundred Italians currently in Lebanon are "safe" and being looked out for by the government, which has advised them to leave the country soon, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.
"Right now they are safe, we are being careful and taking care of them," Tajani said at a joint press conference with European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and EPP secretary Manfred Weber at a party congress in Naples.
Italy's defence minister Guido Crosetto has written several times to the United Nations concerning the Italians' safety, Tajani said.
"I asked the Israeli minister yesterday to be extremely careful when conducting attacks where Italian military personnel are stationed and have received positive assurances," Tajani stated.
"We have advised the 200-300 Italians who are in Lebanon for work to leave the country as soon as possible," said Tajani, noting that flights are still leaving Beirut for Italy and other western countries.
The foreign ministry's crisis unit is giving frequent updates online and the government has advised Italians "not to go to Lebanon for any reason," Tajani added.
The 3,000 Lebanese-Italians with dual passports living in Lebanon permanently want to stay there and are being assisted by Italy's embassy in Beirut, he noted.
The government is tracking over 1,000 Italian military personnel serving in the UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon "minute by minute", Tajani said late Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
After talks with his Iranian counterpart Abass Araghchi in New York late Tuesday, Tajani said he had found "at least a formal readiness" for a ceasefire in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran-allied groups in the region.
"Iran will have to, in my opinion, talk to (powerful Lebanese militant group) Hezbollah, to the (Yemen-based) Houthis," said Tajani.
"For them, the ceasefire in (the Israel-Hamas war) in Gaza remains key, and we are doing everything in our power to convince Israel as well," he said.
