G7 leaders show solidarity on Gaza ceasefire and tougher migration measures

Broad consensus on support for Ukraine and shared burdens in the fight against climate change

Group of Seven leaders were meeting in southern Italy for their annual summit. Reuters

Group of Seven leaders meeting in southern Italy for their annual summit agreed to support ceasefire efforts in Gaza, tackle illegal migration, toughen the sanctions regime against Russia and boost support for Ukraine, while maintaining a leading role in the climate transition.

A communique issued on Friday urged Hamas to accept President Joe Biden's ceasefire proposal and also called on Israel to de-escalate from a “full-scale military offensive” in Rafah. It added the UN Palestinian refugee agency must be allowed to work unhindered in Gaza.

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to attend the G7 which was staged at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Bari, southern Italy. He addressed a special session at the annual summit on the perils and promises of AI.

The leaders warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment programme and said they would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia.

After prioritising support for Ukraine at the opening session, migration was the first topic on the agenda for the summit's second day on Friday.

A senior EU official said that there was a “strong call from the room” on Friday to make operational a coalition to fight smugglers.

“We have people exploiting human misery and we are in very compassionate societies,” they said.

Alongside Pope Francis were a number of non-G7 leaders, including the UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed, who also discussed the impact of artificial intelligence.

Other invitees included King Abdullah of Jordan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian President Narendra Modi.

Food security

The G7 communique included backing for developing countries to gain access to grain supplies. It said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had “aggravated” the world's food problems.

The G7 Apulia Food Systems Initiative (AFSI) – named after the southern Italian region hosting the leaders' summit – will aim to “overcome structural barriers to food security and nutrition”, according to the draft.

The initiative will focus on low-income countries and support projects in Africa, one of the top priorities under Italy's G7 presidency this year.

Ukraine was given the promise of support from the richest nations for “as long as it takes” as the group said it would provide $50 billion of loans for Kyiv using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow invaded its neighbour in 2022.

The leaders promised sanctions against entities that helped Russia circumvent sanctions on its oil. They pledged to continue applying significant pressure on Russian revenue from energy and other commodities, including by improving the efficacy of the oil price cap policy.

A fine line was struck on China. The seven nations expressed concern “about China’s persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices” while “recognising the importance of China in global trade” as free and fair trade relations advanced on a level playing field.

Migration priority

Migration has long been a priority for the summit host, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She campaigned for office on the promise of a naval blockade to stop migrants from attempting the dangerous trip by sea to her country.

Ms Meloni softened her stance after assuming office in October 2022 and paved the way last year to issuing more than 400,000 work permits to non-EU workers in an attempt to promote legal migration.

But as G7 president, Italy continued to prioritise the issue.

“Gender equality, crime, and human rights are the three themes we'll see dominate the message in the final communique,” said John Kirton, director of the Toronto-based G7 research group.

Ms Meloni has adroitly laced her anti-immigration views with calls for more human dignity and a tougher response against criminal networks that exploit migrants, said Mr Kirton.

“She has framed it as a matter of human rights,” he told The National. “The ultimate human right is that of, say, an African to live and work and prosper in the country where they were born. It starts with supporting the human rights of the people there.”

As for those who risk their lives on boats in a bid to make it to the EU, Ms Meloni has framed that as an issue of modern slavery, including sexual slavery.

“It's the only item on gender equality that has appeared on her agenda so far,” said Mr Kirton.

“Who could disagree with supporting young women and girls thrust into prostitution when they arrive in European countries because they have been deceived along the way?”

Gone are the days when G7 leaders called for a warm welcome for refugees, as they did in 1979, with Japan as a host country, in an attempt to address populations fleeing war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Except for Canada, all leaders of the G7 – which also includes Italy, Germany, France, the UK and the US – have been pushing to make access to their countries tougher for migrants and refugees.

“Stop the boats, build the wall – that's been the dominant discourse,” said Mr Kirton.

It is viewed as good practice to not oppose the G7 host's priorities because hosting the event is a rotating responsibility.

Additionally, topics of importance to Ms Meloni – including the Israel-Gaza war, support for Ukraine and concerns over a trade war with China – have found broad resonance with her counterparts.

Despite socially conservative views that clash with most other European leaders' values, Ms Meloni is now viewed as one of Europe's most influential leaders – a position that has been bolstered by her Brothers of Italy party's resounding victory in the European elections last week.

There is an awareness among G7 members that migration patterns between countries in the Global South are equally if not more important than from the South to the North, said the EU official.

“The way you break these [smuggling] networks is through law enforcement, working on tackling the root causes of migration, and creating legal pathways for migration.”