Italy’s PM Meloni says hamas real objective is unbridgeable divide between Muslims, West

ROME

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she thinks the real objective of Hamas' attack on Israel was to create an "unbridgeable divide" between the West and Israel and the Arab world.

"The impression I have is that the real objective of Hamas wasn't to defend the Palestinian people but to force a reaction against Gaza that would threaten any attempt of dialogue, compromising indefinitely peace and well-being of all the citizens involved, including those it says it wants to defend," she said at a press conference at the summit in Cairo, Egypt, where many world leaders gather to talk about the de-escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

"It means the target is all of us and I don't think we can afford to fall into this trap. It would be very stupid."

She also said that even though the starting positions on the conflict could at times seem different among participants to the summit, the interests of all leaders gathered there coincide perfectly.

"These are that the Gaza conflict doesn't become a much wider conflict, a religious war, a clash of civilizations that would make attempts of normalization of relations vain," Meloni said.

She added that dialogue between the Muslim world and the West must continue, bearing in mind that terrorism has hit the Muslim world more than the West.

"Terroristic actions have weakened over time the legitimate requests mainly of the Muslim world," she said, adding that Hamas' "terrorist actions" are, in reality, hindering any prospect of reaching a solution for the Palestinian people.

"No objective justifies terrorism and no objective justifies hitting consciously defenseless civilians," she also said.