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Italy’s PM to Visit Lebanon, Says UN Mission Should Not Be Withdrawn

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers a speech during a session of communications to the Senate ahead of the European Council, at the Senate in Rome, Italy, 15 October 2024. EPA/VINCENZO LIVIERI
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers a speech during a session of communications to the Senate ahead of the European Council, at the Senate in Rome, Italy, 15 October 2024. EPA/VINCENZO LIVIERI
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Italy’s PM to Visit Lebanon, Says UN Mission Should Not Be Withdrawn

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers a speech during a session of communications to the Senate ahead of the European Council, at the Senate in Rome, Italy, 15 October 2024. EPA/VINCENZO LIVIERI
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers a speech during a session of communications to the Senate ahead of the European Council, at the Senate in Rome, Italy, 15 October 2024. EPA/VINCENZO LIVIERI

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday she plans to visit Lebanon on Oct. 18, just days after Israeli forces attacked UN bases in the country, drawing anger from many EU capitals, including Rome.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel -- an area that has seen serious clashes this month between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

Israel has demanded the withdrawal of the UNIFIL forces, which include just over 1,000 Italian troops, but contributor nations have refused and angrily denounced repeated Israeli strikes against the bases that have injured some peacekeepers.

"We believe that the attitude of the Israeli forces is completely unjustified," Meloni told the upper house of parliament, describing it as a "blatant violation" of a UN resolution that mandated the Lebanese mission.

In a later speech to the lower house, she said: "I believe that a withdrawal on the basis of a unilateral request by Israel would be a big mistake. It would undermine the credibility of the mission itself, the credibility of the United Nations."

Her decision to travel to Lebanon, despite daily attacks on the country by Israel, highlights Italy's determination to support the UN operation and underscores Rome's anger with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the issue.

Meloni's government has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israel over the past year as it battled regional enemies following the Oct. 7 Hamas assault out of Gaza.

"I understand Israel's reasons for needing to prevent what happened last October 7 from happening again, but that obviously does not mean I agree with all its choices." Meloni said.

Since the start of Israel's ground operation in Lebanon on Oct. 1, UNIFIL positions have been targeted 20 times, including by direct fire and an incident on Sunday when two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of a UNIFIL base, the UN has said.

Netanyahu has denied that Israeli troops deliberately struck at UNIFIL peacekeepers.

Italy has formally protested to Israel and joined allies in condemning the attacks on the mission.

Meloni said Hezbollah had also violated the UN resolution and sought "to militarize the area under UNIFIL's jurisdiction", adding that Italy wanted to strengthen the capabilities of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces.

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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war.

In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the site saw a long row of graves more than one meter deep, mostly covered with cement slabs.

Several of the slabs had been moved and inside, white bags could be seen stacked over each other with names and numbers written on them. One of the bags contained a human skull and bones.

"We think this is a mass grave -- we found an open grave with seven bags filled with bones," said Abdel Rahman Mawas from the White Helmets rescue group, which visited the site several days earlier.

He told AFP by telephone that the bags, six of which bore names, were "taken to a secure location", adding that "necessary procedures were begun for DNA testing".

He said if additional graves had been exposed it meant other people may have been searching the site, warning people to "stay away from graves and let the relevant authorities handle them".

The site, near the Adra industrial area northeast of the capital, is less than 20 kilometers from the Saydnaya prison.

Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison, said the site was first identified in 2019 through "testimony of an intelligence personnel member who had deserted".

Satellite imagery suggests the site was in use from 2014, he said.

"Probably this grave contains detainees but also former regime or opposition fighters killed in battle," he told AFP by telephone.

The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomized the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.

Serriya said "the bags of bones were probably brought from other graves", adding that "the road to discovering who is buried here will be long".

The doors of Syria's prisons were flung open after an opposition alliance ousted Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.

Mohammed Ali from the Adra municipal council denied residents were aware of the site, which is located near a Syrian army facility.

"It was forbidden to approach it or take photos as it was a military zone," he told AFP.