G7 defence summit considers Gaza, Lebanon as conflicts rage

NAPLES, (Italy): G7 defence ministers convened Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting.

Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organised the body’s first ministerial meeting dedicated to defence, staged in Naples, the southern city that is also home to a NATO base.

Invited to the one-day talks were NATO chief Mark Rutte and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

Borrell told reporters the group had much to discuss, including recent strikes on the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, and the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza.

The summit comes two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza. “Certainly after the killing of Yahya Sinwar a new perspective is open and we have to use it in order to reach a ceasefire, to release the remaining hostages and to look for a political perspective,” Borrell told journalists.

A morning session included discussions over recent strikes on UNIFIL, the UN’s Lebanon peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, where Israel is also at war with Hamas ally Hezbollah.

Borrell suggested the peacekeepers’ mandate should be beefed up by the UN Security Council to give them more scope to act amid repeated attacks on their positions they say are being conducted by Israeli forces.

“They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role,” he said. Earlier Saturday, Borrell wrote on social media that “a more robust mandate for UNIFIL” was needed.

In Lebanon Friday, Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni slammed as “unacceptable” the recent strikes on UNIFIL.

Italy has around 1,000 troops in the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which has soldiers from more than 50 countries.

As the Naples talks began, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told the group that the “critical situation in the Middle East”, Russia’s war in Ukraine, “profound instability” in sub-Saharan Africa and “increasing tension” in the Asia-Pacific region “highlight a deteriorated security framework with forecasts for the near future that cannot be positive”.

On Ukraine, the ministers will contemplate Kyiv entering a third winter at war, battlefield losses in the east — and the prospect of reduced US military support should Donald Trump be elected to the White House next month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, under mounting pressure from Western allies to forge a winning strategy against Russia, on Thursday presented what he called a “victory plan” to the European Union and NATO. Its main thrust is a call for immediate NATO membership, deemed unfeasible by alliance members.

It also demands the ability to strike military targets inside Russia with long-range weapons, and an undefined “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on Ukrainian territory.

Under discussion will also likely be reports, based on South Korean intelligence, that North Korea is deploying large numbers of troops to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine. NATO was not as yet able to confirm that intelligence, Rutte said on Friday.