Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto expressed anger over Israel’s strikes in Gaza in an interview he had with Reuters on Tuesday.
Italy, like the US, has firmly supported Israel during its war with Hamas following the October 7 massacre. However, Crosetto criticized recent Israeli actions in Gaza.
“For me, a Palestinian child is worth as much as a Ukrainian child or an Italian child. A Palestinian hospital is worth as much as a Ukrainian hospital or an Italian hospital,” he said.
Crosetto added that Israel needed to acknowledge its mistakes.
“Sometimes you need to have the courage to say ‘sorry,’” he said.
The minister said that he regretted the end of a ceasefire last month and worried that the violence could ripple beyond Gaza.
“Gaza is a pond in which a stone is being thrown every day, and the circles that this stone creates widen more and more,” he said, referring specifically to the threat of war with Iran.
Crosseto's history with Israel
Crosetto visited Israel in December 2024 as a guest of Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
In March 2024, Italy decided to continue to export arms to Israel despite assurances last year that the government was blocking such sales following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.
At the time, Crosetto told the Italian Parliament that after double-checking that the weaponry would not be used against Gaza’s civilians, only orders that had been previously signed were being honored.
Under Italian law, there is a ban on exporting arms to countries that are waging war and to those deemed as violating international human rights.
After a wave of violent antisemitic protests broke out across Italy after the October 7 massacre, Crosetto, in March 2025, called for new legislation to safeguard law enforcement officers and reportedly condemned the “brutality” of the protesters, including the ones in Bologna.