The Board of Peace for Gaza has formally asked Italy to provide advisers from its police force, fire service and Carabinieri gendarmerie to help establish a new security force in the Palestinian territory.
According to letters sent last month to the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Rome was asked to commit to the initiative, appoint a liaison officer and nominate a senior Carabinieri officer to serve as deputy director of the Board’s police program. The Carabinieri is a military police force operating under the supervision of Italy’s Ministry of Defence.
Although the Carabinieri has provided training to Palestinian police officers for years and participated in European Union peacekeeping missions in the southern Gaza border city of Rafah, Italy’s role in US President Donald Trump’s initiative has remained limited and uncertain.
Meloni previously declined to sign the Board of Peace charter earlier this year, citing constitutional restrictions. Reports in January said the United States had asked Italy to join the Board’s stabilization force as a founding member, but Rome limited its involvement to providing police training.
Nine months after the Board was officially launched, it has yet to make tangible progress on the ground. No stabilization force or Palestinian administration has been established in Gaza, and reconstruction work has not begun.
Last month, the Board allocated $2.45 billion for the reconstruction of the territory, a relatively small portion of the estimated $71 billion it says will be needed over ten years to rebuild Gaza, which has been devastated by the war.
People familiar with the Italian government’s position said Rome was considering appointing a senior officer to serve as deputy director of the police program. However, security concerns have complicated the decision-making process, and no final decision has been reached.
Some sources added that an earlier dispute this year between Trump and Meloni had further complicated the situation, temporarily straining relations between Rome and Washington.
Meloni is currently preparing for next year’s general election campaign as she seeks to secure another term as prime minister.
The Italian government declined to comment on the developments, while the US State Department referred inquiries to the Board of Peace.
A Board official said the organization was holding “active discussions” with several governments about potential contributions to Gaza’s reconstruction. The official noted that Italy had made long-standing contributions to police capacity-building and had held what he described as “very positive” discussions about possible support for the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a technocratic body intended to govern the territory.
The official also said that at least 77,000 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military offensive in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks.
