Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday slammed attacks on UNIFIL peacekeeping forces as "unacceptable" after the UN force accused Israeli troops of firing at their positions in southern Lebanon.
Giorgia Meloni arrived in Lebanon on Thursday amid tensions over UNIFIL peacekeeping mission. Italian peacekeepers play a significant part in the UN force in southern Lebanon that has been caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah in recent days.
Lebanon's House Speaker, Nabih Berri received Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who arrived at the second presidency in Ain El-Tineh.
Their meeting took place after Meloni held a news conference with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, where they agreed that a diplomatic solution must take precedence over violence.
Meloni called for the strengthening of the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, during the news conference.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said on Friday it had come under several "deliberate" attacks by Israeli forces in recent days and efforts to help civilians in villages in the war zone were being hampered by Israeli shelling, Reuters reports.
The U.N. mission, known as UNIFIL, is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel - an area that has seen fierce clashes this month between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.
