Unifil mission, Italy to lead blue helmets and send 500 more soldiers

Italy could take over command of the Blue Helmets mission in Lebanon, which has 10,000 soldiers, setting out to manage the delicate truce between Hezbollah and Israel on the ground. A not entirely unprecedented scenario, but one that would come about this time in the light of more than a year of one of the harshest conflicts between the Shia militiamen and the IDF. Notwithstanding the numerous unknowns, it is certain, however, that an eventual rotation could take place from next March, with the end of the mandate of the current Unifil commander: the Spaniard Aroldo Lázaro Sáenzm had in 2022 taken over from the Italian head of the international peacekeeping force, which since 2007 had always seen our country at the head of the peacekeepers in the Middle Eastern state. Among the names that have cropped up is that of General Dino Abagnara, former commander of the Garibaldi brigade, already serving with UN soldiers.

However, this is not the only development in the situation. On several occasions in the past, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto had vented the hypothesis of a reserve of Italian soldiers for Lebanon, i.e. an aliquot of soldiers - it is assumed (but at present it is still a hypothesis) 500 soldiers deployed in Italy or in other strategic places abroad, such as Cyprus - ready to reinforce the Unifil soldiers, to guarantee the safety of patrols and in general to support the contingent in the event that the situation should once again deteriorate. Nothing has been decided, however, and these would in any case be decisions that would have to pass the UN Security Council's scrutiny, where new engagement rules for peacekeepers in the cedar country could also be discussed again.

A decision could emerge from the Glass Palace to introduce access to private spaces, the use of drones and night laser visors: greater freedom of movement and different equipment would allow the blue helmets, for example, to locate Hezbollah positions more effectively, also as a deterrent, thus preventing the escalation of Israeli encroachments.

On the West Bank front, instead, the Carabinieri Force is already committed with ten men in Jericho, for the reopening of the training mission for Palestinian law enforcement personnel. All this in view of the hoped-for peace in the territory of the Gaza Strip, where our military - which has always been well received by the civilian population in the theatres of war - could play a leading role in the future in the reconstruction of the territory. The Miadit mission in the Jericho training centre, which had started in 2014, has already allowed for the training, training and specialisation over time of around five thousand Palestinian police force members on subjects such as policing techniques, public order management, investigative techniques, and the protection of cultural heritage. The activities had been halted a week after the 7 October attack last year due to deteriorating security conditions. But the US request to Italy for the return of 200 military personnel, made directly by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may soon materialise.