GENEVA

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has sharply criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza, saying the scale of civilian suffering shows its campaign has strayed far from legitimate self-defense.

In an interview with the La Stampa newspaper on Monday, Crosetto said: "The Israeli government has lost its sanity and humanity. Fighting terrorists is no longer an excuse."

He argued that the situation in Gaza and the West Bank has crossed a dangerous threshold.

"As you know, I think the occupation of Gaza and some serious acts in the West Bank mark a qualitative leap forward, and decisions must be made that force (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to think. And it wouldn't be a move against Israel, but a way to save those people from a government that has lost its sanity and humanity."

"We must always distinguish governments from states and peoples, as well as from the religions they profess," he said, adding that this applies to Netanyahu.

Asked why no European leaders were taking a symbolic trip to Gaza as they had to Kyiv, despite a population being "razed to the ground," Crosetto said: "Because it would find itself with a government, that of Israel, unwilling to engage in dialogue because it has adopted a fundamentalist and integralist stance."

"The legitimate defense of a democracy in the face of a terrible terrorist attack is no longer convincing. We are faced with a project of a different nature: the conquest of foreign territory while taking into account a humanitarian catastrophe," he added.