Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani has shown himself to be "a friend of Israel" during - and before - the 138-day-old war with Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to ambassador Alon Bar.
"Antonio Tajani is a friend of Israel," Bar told Radio Rai 1's Ping Pong programme on Wednesday.
"He demonstrated his friendship both in deeds and in words, before the war, also over other issues, and during the war," Bar continued.
"We must listen carefully to what he tells us," Bar stated.
Bar was responding to a question on a recent comment by Tajani that Israel's offensive in Gaza which has killed over 29,000 Palestinians is a "disproportionate reaction" to Hamas' 7 October cross-border raid in which 1,200 people died and over 200 were abducted.
Bar said he agreed Israel must focus on reducing the number of civilian victims by boosting the humanitarian aid reaching Palestinans in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
However, Bar claimed that Hamas was "violently" trying to prevent this outcome.
"But on the other hand, Hamas is targeting civilians and using them as human shields, trying to violently prevent civilians' access to humanitarian aid," Bar said.
"It's a difficult situation," Bar underlined.
In recent weeks the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip has has increased, Bar said.
However, the United Nations World Food Programme halted "life-saving" food deliveries to northern Gaza on Tuesday until conditions allow safe distribution.
The war-ravaged Gaza Strip is "hanging by a thread" amid a dire humanitarian crisis with millions homeless and a quarter of the population starving, according to the UN, which has warned of famine since December.
