The government is eager to guarantee the security of some 3,200 Italians in crisis-hit Lebanon, it said after Israel launched a cross-border incursion on Tuesday in its war on Hezbollah, prompting Iran to fire a barrage of ballistic missiles at the Jewish State.
“We are ready to take any initiative to ensure the safety of our compatriots," foreign minister Antonio Tajani told the lower house of parliament.
Most Italians in Lebanon have dual citizenship, Tajani noted.
“Our priority is to protect Italians throughout the region and our soldiers in Lebanon who are serving with the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission and the MIBIL bilateral training mission,” Tajani added.
Despite calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group continued on Wednesday. Israel carried out at least a dozen airstrikes on Lebanon's capital Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, claiming it bombed targets belonging to the group.
“With Minister (Guido) Crosetto we are following the security situation on the ground from hour to hour. We are in constant contact with our embassies in Beirut and Tel Aviv and with Italy's permanent diplomatic representation to the UN in New York," Tajani stated.
The foreign ministry's crisis unit and the embassy in Beirut are "working tirelessly" to give Italians in Lebanon constant updates on the security situation and whatever help they can, Tajani told MPs.
"I have long urged all Italian nationals to leave Lebanon on available commercial flights," he said.
"We are working to satisfy requests from Italian citizens by making extra connections available including charter flights," Tajani stated.
The foreign and defence ministries are also looking at "other modalities" to evacuate Italians from Lebanon, Tajani said.
