Minister Crosetto visits Qatar. Yesterday he held meetings in Saudi Arabia

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“Meeting my counterparts to talk about peace and try to avoid things from going too far, reaching a point of no return, was important, because at this moment peace is not only compromised in the Gaza Strip, but after Hamas violent attack against Israel a much larger area could be inflamed, involving the rest of the world. All the interlocutors, on both sides, must help to quench the fire, preventing the situation from further deteriorating,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said at the end of his meeting with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Vice Prime Minister and Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah in Qatar. Yesterday he had met with his colleague, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz in Saudi Arabia.

“We must learn to distinguish between Hamas terrorists and the Palestinian people. A people that has been living in terrible conditions for decades, and is often used as a human shield by terrorists whose only purpose is fighting against the West or Israel. Protecting civilians, women and children, is a must.” Talking about the current crisis in the Middle East the Minister said: ”Our main concern is that, if we cross the border between rationality and craziness, not only the Gaza Strip, but also Northern Israel, Syria and the West Bank will explode. We are working to prevent the situation from further deteriorating. We must pursue peace and quench the fire.”

On the Brussels attack he added: “The problem of terrorism has always existed. The main problem are the lonely wolves, who decide to fight against the whole world and maybe hurt someone, no matter who, without having an established target, just the first person they meet in the street. This kind of terrorism feeds on the international situation. An incident like the one that occurred at the hospital (in Gaza) may result in 1, 10 or 100 people thinking that they must take revenge for an action whose origin remains unknown, and this is not foreseeable. Secret services, including the Italian security service have monitored possible extremists over the years: unfortunately, as proved by events in Brussels, thousands of people arrive every day, and there’s no way to know who is who.”

During talks with the Vice Prime Minister of Qatar, the latter expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the good job done by the Italian military and for Italy’s contribution to the bilateral mission in support of the Qatari Armed Forces for the security of the FIFA World Cup.

“The strong relations between Italy and Qatar – Minister Crosetto said - continues, and aims to strengthen our cooperation in the sector of defence and security. Qatar’s contribution is paramount to guarantee security in the Gulf of Arabia, and is a strategic interest at the global level.”

The two Defence Ministers discussed various current themes, underscoring the common commitment to strengthen cooperation between Italy and Qatar. Yesterday Minister Crosetto was in Saudi Arabia, where he met his counterpart, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz. During their meeting they discussed the current situation in the Middle East and stability and security in the Enlarged Mediterranean.