Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks on during a meeting with Lebanon's caretaker prime minister at the government palace in central Beirut on October 18, 2024. Photo by Anwar Amro / AFP.
Beirut, Lebanon: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Lebanon on Friday, her office said, the first head of state or government to visit since an escalation between Israel and Lebanon last month.
The premier was welcomed at Beirut international airport by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, with whom she was due to hold talks before making a joint statement to the press.
Italy has around 1,000 troops as part of the UN's peacekeeping force in Lebanon which has come under repeated Israeli fire in the in recent days.
Five peacekeepers were injured in a series of incidents last week, with the latest seeing the UN force accuse Israeli troops of breaking through a gate and entering one of their positions.
Meloni has condemned the incidents as "unacceptable".
UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon, and to help the Lebanese government restore authority over the border region.
Meloni also met in Beirut with the head of Italy's bilateral mission in Lebanon, MBIL, a training programme, Italian sources said.
The premier -- whose country holds the rotating presidency of the G7 this year -- earlier Friday met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Aqaba.
They discussed the escalating conflict in the region and joint efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, according to Rome.
