Italy Halts Arms Supplies to Israel After War in Gaza Began

Italy has halted supplying arms to Israel after the conflict between the Jewish state and Palestinian movement Hamas escalated, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

Tajani commented on remarks by Italy's opposition Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein, who earlier called on the government to stop arms supplies to the Middle East, "especially to Israel," so as not to fuel the ongoing conflicts there. 

"Italy has stopped sending any kind of weapons to Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war. It's all blocked. The period when the most weapons were sent to Israel was during the premiership of [former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe] Conte. But with the outbreak of hostilities, we suspended all deliveries of weapons systems and military equipment of any kind," Tajani said in an interview with Italian newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale, published on Friday.