Italy is ready to consider the sanctions against Israel proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said today, Ansa reports.
“We are ready to assess the additional new proposals for sanctions announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech in Strasbourg yesterday, as soon as they are presented to the Council,” Tajani said in the Senate, adding:
“At the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen last week, together with Germany, we proposed the introduction of tough new sanctions against violent (Israeli) settlers. We are ready to tighten restrictive measures against those who attack Palestinian villages, going so far as to affect Christian communities. What is happening in the Strip is increasingly unacceptable.”
Tajani stressed that “it remains an open wound for the entire international community.”
“We have reiterated this in all forums and I want to reiterate it here in this Council Chamber: we firmly oppose the Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City and any idea of forcibly displacing Palestinians from the Strip,” Tajani said.
He added, however, that Rome is not ready to recognize the state of Palestine.
“Without waving flags, we are working concretely, operationally, on the birth of a genuine Palestinian state, thus creating the conditions for a two-state solution. I want to reiterate this clearly,” Tajani said.