Salvini receives the Italy-Israel Award for "courageous positions." PD, M5S, and AVS leaders: "The government should report back."

The 'Italy-Israel Award' awarded to Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini , presented this morning in the Chamber of Deputies' Sala del Cenacolo, sparked protests from the Democratic Party, Five Star Movement, and the Italian Socialist Party (Avs). This was also due to the League leader's statements, according to which the violence and tens of thousands of deaths, not only of Palestinians but also of humanitarian workers in Gaza and the West Bank, at the hands of the Israeli army, are instead solely attributable to Hamas: "A ceasefire could be reached tomorrow morning, with the return of the hostages. The choice is entirely up to Hamas, those who cowardly started the conflict." For the upcoming Milan-Cortina Olympics, the League secretary hopes to see "Israeli, Ukrainian, and Russian" athletes. Palestinians, evidently, not. And while it's true that Palestine has never participated in the winter competitions, that certainly doesn't seem to be the point.

The award to Salvini, who flew to Jerusalem in February to shake hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who is under an arrest warrant for war crimes—just like the Hamas leaders—by the International Criminal Court, was given by the Milton Friedman Institute, the Union of Italy-Israel Associations, Maccabi World Union, Israel's Defend & Security Forum (ISDF), and the Alliance for Israel, to underscore the minister's commitment and support for relations between Italy and Israel. Speaking of connections, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, albeit only as an external observer, recently joined the European Patriots group, where the Northern League (Carroccio) is based.

However, immediately afterwards, in the chamber, the opposition asked the government for explanations, also because just yesterday our country signed a letter , together with 25 other countries, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the violence in the West Bank.

"We would like to know why Israel isn't being severely sanctioned, and we would also like to know about Salvini's presence at the Italy-Israel Awards. We've hosted people who say, 'The job must be finished.' We have people who commit unbearable crimes every day and starve children. Yet, the Deputy Prime Minister goes to receive awards from them," said Five Star Movement group leader Riccardo Ricciardi .

For Arturo Scotto (Democratic Party), "in this place where law should prevail over arrogance, reason over the madness of weapons, the cohesion of a new peaceful coexistence over the logic of the geopolitics of chaos, today the Chamber was violated. What does Italy intend to do in the face of the daily horror in Gaza? The government should come to the Chamber to report and not limit itself to the mere words 'ceasefire'." "Respect for human rights cannot be subordinated to geopolitical logic or economic interests. Peace is built through justice, not through rewards for complicity with a criminal government," declared the parliamentarians of the Intergroup for Peace between Palestine and Israel, coordinated by M5S MP Stefania Ascari . The award to Salvini, added Angelo Bonelli (Avs), "certifies the Italian government's complicity in a military escalation that the UN itself has repeatedly condemned."