ROME, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Italy on Monday summoned Israel’s ambassador to protest after two Italian policemen were threatened at gunpoint by an Israeli during a field visit in the occupied West Bank, the foreign ministry said.
The two military policemen were stopped on Sunday by an armed Israeli while they were carrying out a site inspection ahead of a planned visit by EU ambassadors to a village near Ramallah.
According to a government source, the Israeli, believed to have been a settler, forced the two men to kneel at gunpoint and subjected them to an improvised interrogation.
The soldiers were travelling in a vehicle with diplomatic licence plates and carrying diplomatic passports.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wanted the Israeli ambassador in Rome to receive a “strong protest” over the incident, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Italy’s embassy to Israel has already submitted a formal protest to the Israeli government, contacting the foreign ministry, the Israeli military, the police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
The two policemen returned unharmed to Italy’s Consulate General in Jerusalem following the incident.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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