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The conflict in Lebanon was the reason the Italian Premier Romano Prodi to arrange a meeting with government officials, among which were the Defense Minister Arturo Parisi and the Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema. On Sunday, Aug. 13, 2006 Prodi held a press conference at his office, Chigi palace and announced that next week the Italian government will hold a Cabinet meeting to make the decision whether and at what extent Italy should involve in a U.N. peace force regarding the conflict in Southern Lebanon.

Before that, France and Italy declared on Thursday that the United Nations have not defined clear rules about the engagement of the troops that would support the force in Lebanon. The two countries are expected to be crucial contributors to the mission but they insisted U.N. to provide them more details before any formal decisions on committing soldiers.

It is possible that Italy sends quickly about 3,000 soldiers, but Italian Prime Minister’s office calls for explicit ground rules and the final decision is to be made soon. In a telephone conversation with the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Romano Prodi said that he wanted "a clear mandate, without any ambiguity and with very precise rules of engagement, for the soldiers who will be deployed," as the premier's office announced later on.