BRUSSELS 

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Tuesday said that Rome opposes Israel's ongoing offensive on Gaza City, warning that it poses a grave risk to civilians.

"We have always said we are against the offensive on Gaza," Tajani told broadcaster Sky TG24. "We are against it because of the risks to the civilian population, certainly not because of Hamas using hostages as human shields, just as we are against the occupation of part of the West Bank."

He stressed the urgency of diplomatic efforts to halt the escalation, saying: "Now, we need to speed up the process of a ceasefire. It won't be easy to reach a solution, but we must find a way."

On possible EU measures, the minister said Italy is awaiting proposals from Brussels. "We must impose harsher sanctions on settlers, especially the most violent ones," he said.

The expanded assault on Gaza City comes as nearly 1 million Palestinians remain trapped in the city under relentless bombardment.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed almost 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza. The assault has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and triggered widespread starvation and disease.