G7 defense summit convenes during 'historic moment'

Italy's Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (L) welcomes US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin prior to the Group of Seven (G7) Defence Ministers Summit at the Palazzo Reale in Naples, Italy, on Oct. 19, 2024.

G7 defense ministers started talks on Saturday against a backdrop of escalation in the Middle East and mounting pressure on Ukraine as it faces another winter of fighting.

Italy, holding the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven countries, organised the body's first ministerial meeting dedicated to defense, staged in Naples, the southern city that is also home to a NATO base.

Italian defense Minister Guido Crosetto welcomed each of the attendees, who also included NATO chief Mark Rutte.

"I believe that our presence today... sends a strong message to those who try to hinder our democratic systems," Crosetto told ministers as he opened the event.

Crosetto said on Friday in Brussels he had requested the summit, given the many conflicts facing the international community.

"Ample space" would be given to discussing the escalating Middle East conflict during the one-day summit, Crosetto said.

Also on the agenda is the war in Ukraine, development and security in Africa and situation in the Asia-Pacific.

The meeting comes two days after Israel announced it had killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the devastating retaliatory war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sinwar's death in the Palestinian territory signalled "the beginning of the end" of the war against Hamas, while U.S. President Joe Biden saying it opened the door to "a path to peace".

Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, was in Lebanon on Friday, where...