Italy has reportedly sent a protest note to Israel following an incident in the West Bank near Ramallah yesterday. The incident involved two Italian Carabinieri officers being threatened by an armed individual believed to be an illegal Israeli settler.
Elchi.az reports that the Italian Foreign Ministry stated: “The Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv has sent a formal note of protest to the Israeli government regarding the incident involving two Carabinieri officers serving at the Consulate General in Jerusalem.” The statement noted the following regarding the incident that prompted Italy’s diplomatic reaction:
“The two soldiers were conducting reconnaissance yesterday in a village in the Palestinian Territories near Ramallah in preparation for a visit by a delegation of European Union (EU) ambassadors. The soldiers were threatened by an armed man in civilian clothes, presumably an Israeli settler. The man pointed a rifle at them. The soldiers refrained from responding violently to the threats, in accordance with the rules of engagement. The man then connected them by telephone with an unknown person, who said that ‘the two soldiers were in a military zone and had to leave.’
After checking with the Coordination of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT) of the Israeli army, it was confirmed that there was no military zone. The soldiers returned safely to the Consulate General and reported the incident to the Embassy and their command.” According to the statement, the Italian Ambassador in Tel Aviv, acting on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, made efforts to send the aforementioned note of protest to the highest levels of the Israeli government, including the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli army, COGAT, and the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin-Bet.
The statement added that “The Italian Foreign Ministry is already planning further protest initiatives at the highest political level.”
Şayəstə