Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on 27 August condemned Israel’s latest airstrikes on Gaza as “beyond the principle of proportionality,” highlighting the death of at least five journalists among more than 20 people killed when Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was hit earlier in the week. Speaking at a political conference in the coastal city of Rimini, Meloni called the incident an “unacceptable attack on press freedom.” While reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led assault that killed around 1,200 people, the prime minister said the continuing military campaign now jeopardises the prospect of a two-state solution. She urged Israel to halt further operations, facilitate humanitarian aid flows and curb settlement expansion, and pressed Hamas to release the remaining hostages. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 60,000 Palestinians have died since the war began. Famine warnings and mounting international criticism have intensified pressure for a cease-fire. On 29 August, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations echoed Meloni’s remarks, thanking governments that back a halt to the fighting, demanding greater access for relief supplies and denouncing the killing of journalists and aid workers as a “heinous crime.”