Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, accompanied by her Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, visited the city of Ashdod in the south of Israel which is targeted by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
The head of Italian diplomacy visited a house in a residential area hit by ongoing rockets from Gaza, pointing out that at this time the most 'important' is the cease-fire proposed by Egypt which the Israeli government has accepted and that was rejected by Hamas.
Addressing journalists during the visit, Lieberman declared: "Hamas is aiming only (at the) civilian population... can you imagine rockets on Rome or Naples?" he asked, when questioned as to how Israel would respond to the ongoing bombardment. "Can somebody imagine rockets on Washington or New York...? I think we must retaliate as all normal countries (would)."
Mogherini’s visit in Israel started Tuesday with a tour of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv. In the evening, the minister travelled to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Wednesday, she will have talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
Italy currently presides over the rotating presidency of the European Union. Mogherini will during the next six months chair the meeting of the 28 EU Foreign Ministers.
The 41-year-old head of Italy’s diplomacy has only been in the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi since February.
She is considered in Brussels as being in a pole position to succeed Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief later this year.
The 28 EU heads of state or government gather in Brussels Wednesday to discuss the appointment both of the next High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the next President of the EU Council, a post currently held by Belgian Herman Van Rompuy. Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt is is well placed to replace Van Rompuy.
On Tuesday the European Parliament approved the nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker, a former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as new President of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body.