On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Rome, and they spoke in unison against the Gaza War. The march was initiated by the main Italian opposition parties, and the finger was directed at the right-wing government's "silent attitude".
Protesters held banners with eye-catching words: "Stop massacre, stop co-conspiracy". Going slowly in the center of Rome, colorful rainbow flags, Palestinian flags and banners of various parties were also in the parade.
This parade attracted a diverse group of people from all over Italy, and many families took their children to participate. The organizers said the rally, driven by the left-wing opposition party, attracted as many as 300,000 people, gathered in the capital and asked Italy to make a clear statement in response to the conflict in the Gaza region.
1. Criticize Italy's attitude
"This is a huge public response, and everyone is shouting: Enough! Stop the massacre of the Palestinians and stop the crimes of the Netanyahu government!" Ellie Schlein, the leader of the Italian center-left Democratic Party, told reporters.
She criticized the silence of the right-wing government: "There is another voice in Italy that will not choose to remain silent like the Meloni government."
In recent days, Italian Prime Minister Giorgiya Meloni has been criticized by the opposition for his ambiguous attitude towards Israel's military actions in Gaza. While she called on Israel to immediately stop military operations in Gaza earlier this week, saying its attacks were “overly” and needed to protect civilians, the opposition and the public believed her position was still too weak.
A Tunisian protester named Nadine Unali said angrily during the march: "In the face of such a horrific massacre and extremely cruel reaction, Italy remained silent and had no response."
2. Israel under pressure from the international community
At present, Israel also faces international criticism for its military operations in Gaza, and is also required to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. The nearly three consecutive months of lockdown have put this area with a population of two million at a serious risk of famine.
The fuse of this war was the raid attack on Israel by militants led by Hamas on October 7, 2023. That day, they killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, and kidnapped 251 hostages.
56 people are still being seized, one-third of whom are believed to be likely to be alive.
In the subsequent military operations, Israel launched a fierce attack on Gaza. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, Israel's actions have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, and these statistics do not distinguish between civilians and armed personnel.
