Italy's Meloni says she has been denounced to ICC for complicity in genocide

By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday that she and two of her ministers had been reported to the International Criminal Court for alleged complicity in genocide in connection with Israel's offensive in Gaza.

Speaking in an interview with state television broadcaster RAI, Meloni said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had been denounced, and "I think" also Roberto Cingolani, the head of defence group Leonardo.

"I don't believe there is another case like this in the world or in history," Meloni said.

She did not elaborate on who had brought the case against her and her ministers.

Italy has seen a string of demonstrations over the last week, bringing hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets to protest against the mass killings in Gaza, with many protesters also taking aim at Meloni.

Her right-wing government, generally a staunch supporter of Israel, has distanced itself recently from what it calls its "disproportionate" offensive in Gaza, but has not severed any commercial or diplomatic links, or recognised the state of Palestine.

The Israeli assault on Gaza began after gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages according to Israeli tallies, in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israel's response has killed more than 67,000 people, Gaza health officials say.

Israel denies accusations of genocide.

Meloni said she was "amazed" by the accusation of complicity in genocide because "anyone who knows the situation is aware that Italy has not authorised new, let's say, arms supplies to Israel after October 7."

In response to her remarks, a Leonardo spokesperson said Cingolani had already expressed the company's position in an interview with daily Corriere della Sera last month when he said the suggestion that it was complicit in genocide was "a very serious frame-up."

In other remarks, Meloni said she believed that U.S. President Donald Trump had come to the conclusion that Russia was not interested in a peace deal with Ukraine.

"In the face of this refusal by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin ... the only way forward is to apply pressure, continue to support Ukraine, and to impose sanctions," she said.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Gavin Jones, editing by Alistair Bell)