Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said on Thursday that he and his government “totally reject” any idea of normalizing ties with Israel and have started an investigation into the meeting between former foreign minister Najla Mangoush and Israeli minister Eli Cohen in Rome last week, in his first public comment on the incident.

Dbeibah said in a cabinet meeting, according to Libyan reports, that the Rome meeting was a “serious issue” and he promised to find out “what happened in Rome, no matter what the circumstances, reasons, methods, or intentions were.

“Even if it was a brief or casual meeting, it needs a strong response to teach a lesson on the nation’s principles,” Dbeibeh said, as quoted by Libyan media, emphasizing his and his unity government’s “total rejection” of normalizing relations with Israel and “support for the Palestinian people and their fair cause.”