Italian, British premiers call for immediate end of Gaza war, pledge to cooperate on migration

By Giovanni Legorano

ROME (AA) – Italian Prime Giorgio Meloni and her British counterpart Keir Starmer pledged on Monday to keep on working to achieve an end to hostilities in the Middle East.

“We are united in our support for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. We want to see the release of all hostages, desperately needed humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza, and a calming of tensions on the West Bank in particular,” Starmer told journalists after meeting his Italian counterpart in Rome.

“And of course, as we discussed, none of this is easy, but it is urgent and it is vital. So we will keep working together to resolve this crisis and end the suffering on all sides,” he added.

Meloni echoed his comments, saying the Italian government is committed to go on working to achieve the creation of a Palestinian state that could end the historic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We agreed a comprehensive deal based on the mediation led by the United States and Qatar, which sees the immediate cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all hostages taken captives on October 7 can no longer be postponed,” Meloni said.

“Italy appeals to all involved stakeholders -- and is willing to do its part – to support efforts to avoid an escalation in the region, starting from Lebanon,” she said.

“Today, more than ever, a long-lasting solution to the crisis, giving a renewed push to the two-state solution, is needed.”

Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas that claimed 1,200 lives and around 250 others were taken as hostages. About 101 captives are still believed to be in the blockaded enclave. Efforts for a deal to end the war continue, but to no avail.

The two premiers also spoke about the challenge posed by irregular migration and how the two countries can cooperate on this issue.

Starmer, who was accompanied in his visit to Italy by the new UK border security commander, said the two countries shared intelligence, tactics and discussed ways to co-operate to shut down migrants' smuggling routes and smash criminal gangs trafficking migrants into Europe and the UK.

Starmer and Meloni also discussed how to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting led to the UK securing a total of £500 million ($660 million) of new investments from Italy, Starmer said.

He added that Italian defense firm Leonardo will invest £400 million into research and development and helicopter manufacturing and Steel group Marcegaglia will invest £100 million into green steel production in the UK.