The arrest warrants sought on Monday by the International Criminal Court prosecutors for Israel's premier Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant alongside Hamas' leaders are "unacceptable", "absurd" and could fuel anti-Semitism, according to Italy.
"It is totally unacceptable to put Hamas and Israel on the same level, equating top members of the government elected by the people of Israel with the leaders of the terrorist group that started the Gaza war by massacring innocent citizens (on 7 October)," Antonio Tajani told Corriere della Sera daily on Tuesday.
"It is absurd...such an equation is inconceivable. We must careful not to legitimize anti-Israel positions that can fuel anti-Semitism," Tajani said.
Netanyahu and US president Joe Biden and secretary of state Antony Blinken have also said there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Blinken has called the ICC's requests "shameful" and suggested they jeopardise ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire deal.
"Our position is unaltered: we say no to the (Israeli) attack on Rafah, we are for an immediate ceasefire and the possibility of providing humanitarian aid and safeguarding civilian lives," said Tajani.
"But at the same time we defend Israel's right to exist and we are for a policy of two peoples and two states."
Rome also backs the deployment of Italian troops within a possible United Nations Gaza peacekeeping mission under the command of an Arab country to lay the ground for the creation of a Palestinian state, Tajani noted.
"Our presence could be very important, because we are welcome to both the Israelis and the Palestinians, as we are to the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo," Tajani underlined.
