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The Prodi’s government took the decision to deploy 2,500 Italian troops for a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. The Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said the troops would be in Lebanon for four months and their stay would be split into two phases with a maximum of 2,450 soldiers on the ground. The soldiers will be accompanied by the minister Parisi and the Armed Forces Chief General Gianpaolo Di Paolo.

The Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema claimed "We are not going to war, but we are going to Lebanon to defend and consolidate peace”. He said that the mission will take long and the main purpose is to guarantee peace and help Lebanon rediscover unity, a full sovereignty and reassure Israel. The costs are estimated of about 320 million dollars per half-year.

In this situation, Italy may draw a political dividend. D'Alema said also that Rome's diplomatic role in the Middle East is becoming deeper and this permits Italy to be included in nuclear negotiations with Iran. Currently the negotiations are led by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. On the other side, this far Rome will not participate in secret talks over a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah. In this sense, the chairman of the defense commission in the Italian Senate Sergio Di Gregorio expressed the eventual readiness of the Italian involvement to be involved in such negotiations.