Protests break out in Italy over Israeli attack on Freedom Flotilla
ROME
Thousands of people took to the streets across Italy on Wednesday to protest Israel’s attack on vessels belonging to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The raid, carried out in international waters, sparked demonstrations in Rome, Milan, Naples and Salerno.
In Rome, crowds gathered at the Colosseum before marching toward the Pyramid of Cestius with banners saying “Stop genocide.”
Protesters waved Palestinian flags, chanted slogans including “Freedom for Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and called for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s resignation.
In Milan, more than 5,000 people joined a march from Piazzale Lodi to Leonardo Da Vinci Square, halting traffic as some drivers honked in support.
The Israeli navy attacked ships of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” convoy early Wednesday in international waters, roughly 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) from the enclave.
The convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week that were part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and detained over 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.
Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo and deported the activists on board.
It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and tightened the siege in March, when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.
Negotiations to end the war, according to a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, are underway in Egypt.
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