'Israel must respect law, protect civilians' - PM tells UN
Meloni calls for 'new Palestinian leadership, support for Kyiv'
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni urged
Israel to respect international law and protect civilians,
expressed the wish for a new Palestinian leadership, renewed
Italy's support for Ukraine and said the international community
needed to "raise its voice" on Venezuela in a speech at the UN
General Assembly, in which she also called on the international
community to do more against human trafficking.
"We affirm Israel's right to defend itself against external
attacks, like the horrible one of last October 7, but at the
same time we ask Israel to respect international law,
safeguarding the civilian population that is also in large part
a victim of Hamas and its destructive choices", the premier told
the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
In her speech, Meloni also expressed support for the Palestinian
population and its right to a State, while noting that, in order
for this to happen soon, "it is necessary for Palestinians to
entrust it to a leadership inspired by dialogue, the
stabilization of the Middle East and autonomy", she added,
citing the 2020 Abraham Accords as an example of "advantageous
cohabitation and cooperation based on mutual recognition".
She also called for a ceasefire in Gaza without further delay
and the immediate release of Israeli hostages.
"We cannot watch tragedies like the ones of the past few days in
the South and East of Lebanon, with the involvement of powerless
civilians including numerous children", she stressed.
Shortly before these observations, Meloni had spoken about
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, warning that "we cannot look the
other way in front of Ukraine's right to defend its borders, its
sovereignty, its freedom".
She said this "wound" had undermined "the international system"
and is "having destabilizing effects well beyond the borders" of
a war that is having a domino effect by reactivating and
detonating other conflicts.
The premier also spoke about the situation in Venezuela.
"The international community can't sit and watch while in
Venezuela, nearly two months since the election, the electoral
result has not been recognized yet, but in the meantime a brutal
repression has taken place" with the death of "dozens of
demonstrators, the arbitrary arrest of thousands of political
opponents, the indictment and exile of the presidential
candidate of the democratic opposition".
The premier then highlighted in her speech the need to "declare
a global war on human traffickers".
"I am happy that this appeal hasn't been ignored and that, first
of all, at a G7 level, an agreement has been found to create an
international coordination to dismantle these criminal
networks", she said, adding that more has to be done".
"The United Nations must do more, because these criminal
organizations are creating again, under other forms, a slavery
that this Assembly, in another time, had a fundamental role in
eradicating for good".
The premier also spoke about other themes, including a reform of
the UN Security Council, noting that it cannot be carried out
without the respect of the "principles of equality, democracy
and representativity", the need for a new form of cooperation on
an equal level embodied, according to Meloni, by her
government's proposed Mattei Plan for Africa and the need for a
global governance of artificial intelligence (AI).
"Fate is challenging us.
"In the storm, we can show that we are up to the task given to
us by history.
"Italy, as always, is ready to play its part", she concluded,
quoting Italian patriot Carlo Pisacane (1818-1857).
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