Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani today had a telephone conversation with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, with jurisdiction over Latin-rite Catholics residing in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Cyprus, and responsible for Syria during his time as Custos of the Holy Land.
Cardinal Pizzaballa told the Minister of his recent trip to Gaza, and of the conditions of Christians and the civilian population in the Strip “at such a delicate and painful time, with another Christmas spent in warlike conditions”.
Minister Tajani updated the Cardinal on the Food for Gaza initiative: on 17 December, 20 tonnes of Italian aid collected for the population of the Strip by the Italian agricultural confederations and 20 tonnes of medical supplies provided by the Italian Red Cross entered Gaza. Thanks to the cooperation of the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authorities, all the food aid is already being distributed in the Strip.
Furthermore, as decided by the WFP, the 15 special trucks donated by Italy are due to be shipped out on 19 January and will be used in the coming months inside the Strip. A further 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid donated by the Italian Cooperation will also be transported on the same ship.
Tajani recalled that in 2024 Food for Gaza was able to bring substantial aid to the Palestinian population of the Strip, bringing together Italian action with that of the UN humanitarian agencies present in Rome.
The initiative was launched in March 2024 by the Minister as a permanent technical table between the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the aim of promoting coordination between the institutions involved and the organisations working on the ground to facilitate humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
The programme received the full support of the Palestinians and Israelis, and also of the G7 countries. At the G7 Development Ministers’ Meeting held in October, Tajani organised a humanitarian conference on the Middle East in Pescara, which was attended by representatives from Lebanon, Palestine and Israel, and announced the allocation of an additional EUR 10 million for humanitarian activities in Gaza and EUR 5 million for the Reconstruction Team programme run by the Palestinian Authority.
On another front, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recently sent a diplomatic delegation to Damascus to meet with the new transitional authorities. “One of the objectives of our diplomatic action in the region is the protection of civilians and Christian citizens, as well as all minorities,” said Tajani, reiterating that “Italy will offer the new Syria all possible support, but we want to verify the soundness of the declarations of peace and tolerance towards women and minorities, including Christian ones.”
