Hamas must be reduced to “military impotence” but it is also necessary to prevent Palestinians from getting caught up in its war with Israel, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.

“We must work to strike Hamas, it must be reduced to military impotence, and we must also help the Palestinian people not to be caught up in this war,” said Tajani on the sidelines of the assembly of the national association of Italian municipalities (ANCI) in Genoa.

“It’s a very complicated job, we need a lot of caution even in our firmness, so in the current debate we also weigh our words carefully so as not to inflame tempers,” he added.

“One thing is for sure: Italy considers Hamas to be a terrorist organisation,” reiterated Tajani, responding to a question on his government colleague Matteo Salvini’s request to summon the Turkish ambassador to Italy after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he considered the Islamist militant group to be “liberators” fighting for their land rather than terrorists.