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Italy’s government received 114 Palestinian evacuees from Gaza on Wednesday night, including 31 children in need of medical assistance.
“We will continue to support the civilian population of Gaza and work toward achieving peace,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote in a post on X.
“Children are a symbol of hope and the future: ensuring their care and medical assistance is a duty.”
“The important thing for us is to continue to support the Palestinian people,” Tajani told reporters as he welcomed the families in Rome. “It is important for us to help those who are suffering, and treat those who are in need in our country.”
The Italian Air Force flew the evacuees over in three C-130 cargo airplanes from the southern city of Eilat in Israel.
One of the planes, carrying six patients and 22 of their relatives, landed at Rome’s military airport.
The others landed in Pisa and Milan, carrying 12 and 13 young patients respectively.
The Palestinians were then transferred by ambulance to various hospitals. The children are with severe injuries and amputations or serious congenital diseases, according to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Italy has carried out 14 medical evacuations since January 2024. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the southern European country has evacuated nearly 1,000 Palestinians from Gaza, including those who have arrived for family reunification.
Netanyahu repeats calls for ‘voluntary migration’
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wants to realise US President Donald Trump’s vision of relocating much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million people through what he refers to as “voluntary migration,” in what critics have warned amounts to ethnic cleansing.
“Give them the opportunity to leave. First, from combat zones, and also from the Strip if they want,” Netanyahu said in an interview aired Tuesday with Israeli TV station i24 to discuss the planned offensive in areas that include Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people shelter.
“We are not pushing them out but allowing them to leave,” he added.
Earlier, the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Netanyahu’s remark to i24 News that he was “very” attached to the vision of a “Greater Israel”.
Netanyahu did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.
Efforts to revive ceasefire talks have resumed after apparently breaking down last month. Israel has no plans to send its negotiating team to talks in Cairo, Netanyahu’s office said.