Italy deploys hospital ship off Gaza coast for emergency aid

By Giada Zampano

ROME (AA) - Italian navy ship Vulcano, equipped with hospital instruments and operating rooms, has been deployed to the Middle East to receive and treat wounded people from Gaza, the defense minister said on Wednesday.

Guido Crosetto said the hospital ship will first head to Cyprus island and then as close as possible to the Israeli-Palestine conflict zone to provide emergency medical support to the Palestinian population.

The ship left on Wednesday from the Italian port of Civitavecchia with 170 staff onboard, including 30 people trained for medical emergencies.

"We are the first to carry out a humanitarian operation in that area and we hope other countries will follow suit," said the Italian minister.

Crosetto added that the government is also working on providing a field hospital that will be sent "directly to Gaza in agreement with the Palestinians."

At the end of last month Italy sent two batches of humanitarian aid to Egypt for distribution through the Egyptian Red Crescent to the suffering civilian population in Gaza.

Foreign ministers from the G-7 countries, which include Italy, have called for humanitarian pauses in the Gaza conflict, which began on Oct. 7, to allow in aid and help the release of hostages.