Italy is studying the possibility of mounting "targeted interventions" against Libya-based people smugglers behind a huge surge in the numbers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Monday.

"The hypothesis of military intervention (to stabilise Libya) is not on the table... but what is possible are targeted interventions to destroy a criminal racket," Renzi said at a

press conference with his Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat.