EU members of UNIFIL urge 'maximum pressure' on Israel to prevent further incidents

EU nations with peacekeepers in Lebanon Wednesday expressed "the shared will to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel" to prevent further "incidents" against the UN mission, Italy said.

Italy and France organised a video conference among the 16 EU countries that participate in UNIFIL, where the defence ministers "strongly condemned" attacks the mission has blamed on Israel, the Italian defence ministry said in a statement.

It said it called the meeting -- one day before an EU summit opens in Brussels -- to seek a joint approach to fire against the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, as Israel wages a ground offensive against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

"Another key point that emerged from the meeting was the shared will to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel, so that no further incidents occur," it said.

"At the same time, it was made clear that Hezbollah cannot use UNIFIL personnel as a shield in the conflict."

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the activities of the UN peacekeepers were of "great importance" and that the force could play a vital role when the war with Hezbollah ends.

"Israel places great importance on the activities of UNIFIL and has no intention of harming the organisation or its personnel," said Katz in a statement posted on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is to visit Beirut on Friday, has strongly condemned the attacks on UNIFIL, which includes a significant number of Italians.

"All the ministers expressed unanimous concern for the situation in the region, strongly condemning the attacks that hit UNIFIL bases, putting at risk the security of military personnel engaged in the United Nations mission", the Italian statement said.

They emphasised the importance of ensuring "full respect" for the mission's mandate and the protection of its personnel.

They expressed the need to "review the rules of engagement... to allow UNIFIL to operate more effectively and safely".

But after Israel called for the UN to move the peacekeepers, the ministers agreed on "the importance of maintaining a stable presence in Lebanon" and said any decision on the mission's future should be taken at a UN level.

Ministers from France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus took part in the meeting.