UPDATE - Italy must avoid sending arms to Israel, says left-wing opposition party

UPDATES WITH RESPONSE BY FOREIGN MINISTER

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – A senior Italian politician has called on the Rome administration to stop providing weapons to Israel, saying the country cannot risk its munitions to be used in ways that could constitute "war crimes," ANSA news agency reported.

"We must face the issue of avoiding fueling these conflicts, of avoiding sending and exporting arms to conflicts, to the conflict in the Middle East, in this case, particularly to Israel,” left-wing opposition Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein said at a party meeting in the northern town of Gubbio on Friday.

"Because we cannot risk weapons being used to commit what could be considered war crimes."

A response to Schlein came on Saturday from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said "the government had already decided not to export arms to Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7."

As such, he added, Schlein's call for weapons not to be sent to Israel was superfluous.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv said killed 1,200 people.

At least 24,927 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 62,388 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.