Salvini blasted for Hezbollah comment

Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, defended himself against attacks from his own government on Wednesday, after he was criticised for calling the militant group Hezbollah Islamist terrorists.

Salvini, who heads the rightist League party, began a twoday visit to Israel on Tuesday with a tour of the country’s northern border, where the Israeli army says it has uncovered attack tunnels built by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

He later denounced the Shiite group as terrorists and doubled down on his comments on Wednesday following criticism from the 5-Star Movement, his coalition allies.

“It is strange to read in the Italian newspapers that some people are amazed that I call Islamist terrorists what they are, Islamist terrorists,” he said on Facebook. “If we do not identify the adversary, I am not saying enemy but adversary, then the game will never be won.”

Italy is usually cautious with Hezbollah, not wanting to create problems for Italian forces operating in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping force.

Defence minister Elisabetta Trenta, a member of 5-Star, urged Salvini to think carefully about what he said. “We always have to have in mind that our soldiers risk their lives every day for our stability,” she said.

Another 5-Star politician, foreign ministry undersecretary Manilo Di Stefano, said: “To speak about geopolitics without understanding the causes and only to support the strongest party, damages [the region’s] people and peace.”