Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has sent a formal letter to Israeli authorities requesting a review of the use of force during the Israeli navy's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla after Italian activists alleged rubber bullets were fired at one of the vessels. [1]

The paper's May 19 account of how Israeli forces turned the Gaza flotilla into a Cyprus jurisdiction fight noted that Italy was already pressing Israel for assurances about detained Italian citizens. Wednesday's filing converts that pressure into a document with a sender, a recipient, and a request.

AP reported that the Italian Foreign Ministry's letter cites video posted by flotilla organizers purporting to show Israeli forces opening fire on the Girolama, that Tajani also asked for consular access to detained Italian nationals at Ashdod, and that the letter does not name an Italian sanction or formal protest at this stage. [1] It is, in trade terms, a request and not yet a demarche.

A use-of-force review letter is the lowest-friction diplomatic instrument a European foreign ministry can file. It preserves Rome's relationship with Israel, gives Tajani's domestic critics evidence of action, and creates a paper trail flag-state lawyers can later cite. It does not freeze trade, expel a diplomat, or recall an ambassador.

Israel's Foreign Ministry has not publicly responded. The Girolama video has not been independently verified at press time, and Israeli officials describe the boarding as orderly and without aid aboard.

The next receipt is whether Israel files a written reply, whether other European ministries follow, and whether the Girolama video is verified or contested. Until then, Tajani's letter is the first European government document on the boarding's force ledger.

-- CHARLES ASHFORD, London