G7 defence ministers call for more aid to Gaza, pledge support to Ukraine

Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (R) and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shake hands during the welcome ceremony of the Group of Seven (G7) Defence Ministers Summit at the Palazzo Reale in Naples, Italy, on 19 October 2024.

In their closing statement, G7 defence ministers reunited in Naples on Saturday voiced support for "significant and sustained increase" in humanitarian aid to Gaza as well as "unwavering" support for Ukraine.

G7 defence ministers convened Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting.

Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organised the body's first ministerial meeting dedicated to defence, staged in Naples, the southern city that is also home to a NATO base.

Invited to the one-day talks were NATO chief Mark Rutte and the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

The summit comes two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.

"Certainly after the killing of Yahya Sinwar a new perspective is open and we have to use it in order to reach a ceasefire, to release the remaining hostages and to look for a political perspective," Borrell told journalists.

The UN humanitarian affairs agency on Friday continued "to sound the alarm about the increasingly dire and dangerous situation that civilians in northern Gaza are facing. Families there are trying to survive in atrocious conditions, under heavy bombardment."

"They cannot act by themselves, it is certainly a limited role," he said.

(with AFP)


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