By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) – The government of Italy's southern Puglia region has severed all relations with Israel in protest of the genocide of Palestinians, local media reported on Thursday.
According to state-run ANSA news agency, Puglia Governor Michele Emiliano said he took the decision "owing to the genocide of defenseless Palestinians underway by the Netanyahu government."
Emiliano issued instructions to "all managers and employees of the region, its agencies and participating companies to break off all relations of any kind with the institutional representatives of the Israeli government and with all those subjects attributable to it who are not openly and declaredly motivated by the desire to organize initiatives to stop the massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," according to the news agency.
“This is a position towards the Netanyahu government, not the Israeli people,” the governor noted.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.