Italy says Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza were no longer justifiable in one of the strongest criticisms Rome has made so far against Israel’s war on the enclave.

“There is an increasingly difficult situation in which the Palestinian people are being squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women and children who have nothing to do with Hamas, and this can no longer be justified,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told the SkyTG 24 broadcaster.

“We are watching the situation with despair.”

Crosetto said Italy agreed in principle with the Israeli response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 but added that a difference had to be made between the group and the Palestinian people.