Mission Levant, Italy will also parachute aid into Gaza
Among the objectives of the operation, Foreign Minister Tajani also included that of 'parachuting humanitarian material into the Strip, as other partners (France and Jordan) are already doing'.
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Key points
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Not only "Aspides", the new European mission in the Red Sea against attacks on ships by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who claim to act in support of the Palestinian cause. Among the new operations approved by parliament is also 'Levante'. In this case, the aim is to provide contributions to counter a potential escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict, including humanitarian interventions in favour of the civilian population in the area, in line with the objectives defined by the EU Foreign Affairs Council at its meeting on 19 February 2024, which, while reaffirming Israel's right to defend itself in line with international law and international humanitarian law, stressed the need for an immediate humanitarian pause that could lead to a sustainable ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance.
It costs just over three million euro
.The mission has a yearly duration, from 1 January to 31 December 2024, and envisages the deployment of 192 military personnel, 10 land vehicles, one naval unit and one airborne unit to the military force. The area covered by the operation includes Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the Eastern Mediterranean region. The financial requirements of the operation for the period 1 January - 31 December 2024 are estimated at a little over three million euro (3,213,780).
Mission objectives
.The mission's tasks include: transporting essential goods for civilians; deploying a field hospital and a naval unit with medical capacity, in support of the civilian population; preparing precautionary measures for the possible evacuation of compatriots or the 'extraction of Italian forces from the region'; and strengthening the Italian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Crosetto: with 'Levant' also aid from the sky to Gaza
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto explained that within the framework of the Levant mission "we are also exploring the possibility of launching air drop activities to deliver humanitarian material to the Gaza Strip as well as the activation of the multinational initiative 'Maritime Aid to Gaza' aimed at providing for the opening of a maritime corridor for the transport of humanitarian aid. Activities," he stressed, "in continuity with what has already been done with the dispatch of Nave Vulcano of the Italian Navy, the flights of the Italian Air Force to bring Palestinian children to Italy to receive treatment at our best paediatric hospitals, and the willingness to send a field hospital of the Italian Army as soon as conditions permit".
Tajani: intervention along the lines of what France and Jordan are already doing
The scenario was confirmed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, during the government's communications in parliament on the new missions. Among the objectives of the operation, the head of the Farnesina also included that of "parachuting humanitarian material into the Strip, in the same way as other partners (France and Jordan) are already doing". Tajani also recalled that "in Lebanon, between the UNIFIL mission of the United Nations and the bilateral MIBIL mission in favour of the Lebanese Armed Forces, we have over a thousand military personnel deployed".
