Presence and roles of Italian forces in military missions in the Middle East between crisis and cooperation

The attacks on the Kuwait base of Ali al Salem and on Camp Singara, at Erbil, in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, which add up to a situation of 'structural' tension at the Unifil base in Lebanon, at the centre of tensions between the IDF and Hezbollah, place the emphasis on the fact that the Italian military deployed in the Middle East are 'in the middle' of the regional crisis that has erupted with the war between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other. Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt: this is where the Italian presence is concentrated.

Italy is among the European countries with the largest presence in Iraq and continues to play a relevant role in both the anti-Daesh coalition framework and the Nato Mission Iraq. The name of the Italian mission is Operation Prima Parthica, launched on 14 October 2014 and now under the orders of Colonel Stefano Pizzotti. Italia's operational centre of gravity is Erbil, where Camp Singara houses the command of the national ground contingent, but an Italian presence is also in Baghdad, mainly within NATO Mission Iraq and diplomatic and operational support structures such as Union III and the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center. More than 1,200 Kurdish military personnel were trained in Camp Singara in 2025 alone. Italy's contingent in Erbil also includes the Griffon Task Group, a squadron of 60 soldiers and a number of helicopters available to the coalition to transport personnel and materials to the various bases in northern Iraq. Operation Prima Parthica, however, is not just military training. The Italia contingent, in fact, is also engaged in civil and military cooperation activities to support the population through donations and charitable activities. As far as numbers are concerned, the contingent has currently been greatly reduced. Compared to a 2025 parliamentary authorisation given for 1,270 units, according to what Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in the last few hours, the personnel already downsized as a precautionary measure, would currently amount to 141 units that are being temporarily redeployed; 102 soldiers have been brought back to Italia, another 75 have been moved to Jordan.

For days, the Ali al Salem base in Kuwait has also been in the crosshairs of the drones launched by the Pasdaran and the Iranian army. Italia's presence, with the Task Group Typhoon deployed at the air base, is still as part of the "Prima Parthica" operation. Here, Italia deploys 320 Air Force personnel with a pair of Typhoon fighter aircraft as part of operations in support of the Iraqi government against the Islamic State, evacuation operations of Italian personnel continue with the use of Air Force KC-767 transport aircraft. The base is also hosting substantial US forces. Following the drone attacks, the Italia contingent was largely evacuated to Saudi Arabia where 239 Italian military personnel had been transferred as of 6 March.

In Lebanon, Italia participates in three missions: Unifil, Mibil and MTC4L (Military Technical Committee for Lebanon). Most of the Italian soldiers operating in the country of the cedars are blue helmets (1,160 out of a total of 1,300 soldiers). As far as Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) is concerned, Major General Donato Abagnara has been head of mission and mission commander since June last year (a total of 7,300 soldiers from around 50 countries). This mission, which was developed under the umbrella of the United Nations, is drawing to a close. On 28 August, the Security Council extended the mandate until 31 December. Next year will be the year of decommissioning. Speaking in reply to the general debate on the communications ahead of the EU Council and the crisis in the Middle East, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni admitted on Unifil there are "perplexities: on the one hand, we believe that in the current context the mission remains important, but you know that the rules of engagement it has had in recent years would not be sufficient to deal with the current crisis. The debate must be of this kind: I am more than in favour and I have pointed out what I did not agree with about the US initiative with respect to Unifil, but if we wanted to extend the mission we would have to review the rules. But it is an issue on which we have not found much agreement,' Meloni added. The Prime Minister explained that she had spoken with Netanyahu, expressing to him "Italia's opposition to any escalation" without prejudice to Israel's right to defend itself "against hezbollah attacks". In Lebanon, he continued, 'there are over a thousand Italian soldiers of the Unifil mission (between Shama, Al Mansouri and Naqura there are 1,300 Italians, ed). The security of the personnel must be guaranteed at all times, we reiterate the request to Israel'. The Supreme Council of Defence also intervened on the issue. In the note released at the end of the meeting that took place on Friday, 13 March, it is stated that "the Council finds the continuing serious violations of resolution no. 1701 of 2006 and the repetition of unacceptable attacks by Israel on the Unifil contingent, currently led by Italy, alarming. Also in relation to the decisions of the UN Security Council to end the Unifil mission,' the document goes on to say, 'it remains inescapable to guarantee the security of the Blue Line, favouring an increase in the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces'.

On the other hand, the second mission, Mibil (Italian Bilateral Military Mission in Lebanon), deploys training and education programmes in favour of the Lebanese LAF/Security Forces and the establishment of a training centre in South Lebanon, where education/training activities will be developed. Currently, the maximum annual size authorised by Italia for the national contingent employed in the mission is 160 soldiers, 7 land vehicles and 1 naval vehicle.