Turkey asks Italy to join arms boycott against Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Tuesday asked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to join an arms boycott initiative against Israel at the United Nations initiated by Turkey, according to a statement from Erdogan's office.

Erdogan said that Israel was expanding its war in the Middle East. Erdogan said Italy's support for the arms boycott would strengthen its initiative at the UN. 

Italy is one of the top providers of peacekeepers to the UN force in Lebanon and Meloni has sharply criticised Israel's attacks on UN forces.