Thousands march in Rome against Israel's war on Gaza
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Rome on Saturday to protest the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, in a massive demonstration led by opposition groups accusing Italy's government of being complicit in Israel's assault.
'Stop the massacre, stop complicity!' read a banner at the front of the march, as a sea of Palestinian flags, rainbow peace banners, and 'Free Palestine' signs stretched down the capital's avenues.
Organisers estimated the turnout at around 300,000.
The peaceful protest moved from Piazza Vittorio to San Giovanni, where speakers condemned the violence in Gaza and criticised the silence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right government.
Protestors hold a banner reading "Free Palestine" as they join a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome on June 7, 2025 (AFP)
A man holds a placard reading "Free Palestine" as he joins a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome on June 7, 2025 (AFP)
Protesters holds puppets on the shape of human bodies covered with fake blood as they join a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome (AFP)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
39 minutes ago
- Gulf Today
Netanyahu admits Israel supporting armed criminal gang against Hamas in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel is supporting an armed group in Gaza that opposes the Hamas group, following comments by a former minister that Israel had transferred weapons to it. Israeli and Palestinian media have reported that the group Israel has been working with is part of a local Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The European Council on Foreign Relations (EFCR) think tank describes Abu Shabab as the leader of a "criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks." Knesset member and ex-defence minister Avigdor Liberman had told the Kan public broadcaster that the government, at Netanyahu's direction, was "giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons." "What did Liberman leak? That security sources activated a clan in Gaza that opposes Hamas? What is bad about that?" Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media on Thursday. "It is only good, it is saving lives of Israeli soldiers." Michael Milshtein, an expert on Palestinian affairs at the Moshe Dayan Center in Tel Aviv, told AFP that the Abu Shabab clan was part of a Bedouin tribe that spans across the border between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Some of the tribe's members, he said, were involved in "all kinds of criminal activities, drug smuggling, and things like that." Milshtein said that Abu Shabab had spent time in prison in Gaza and that his clan chiefs had recently denounced him as an Israeli "collaborator and a gangster." "It seems that actually the Shabak (Israeli security agency) or the (military) thought it was a wonderful idea to turn this militia, gang actually, into a proxy, to give them weapons and money and shelter" from army operations, Milshtein said. He added that Hamas killed four members of the gang days ago. The ECFR said Abu Shabab was "reported to have been previously jailed by Hamas for drug smuggling. His brother is said to have been killed by Hamas during a crackdown against the group's attacks on UN aid convoys." Israel regularly accuses Hamas, with which it has been at war for nearly 20 months, of looting aid convoys in Gaza. Hamas said the group had "chosen betrayal and theft as their path" and called on civilians to oppose them. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said it had evidence of "clear coordination between these looting gangs, collaborators with the occupation (Israel), and the enemy army itself in the looting of aid and the fabrication of humanitarian crises that deepen the suffering of" Palestinians. The Popular Forces, as Abu Shabab's group calls itself, said on Facebook it had "never been, and will never be, a tool of the occupation". "Our weapons are simple, outdated, and came through the support of our own people," it added. Milshtein called Israel's decision to arm a group such as Abu Shabab "a fantasy, not something that you can really describe as a strategy". "I really hope it will not end with catastrophe," he said. Agence France-Presse
Al Etihad
3 hours ago
- Al Etihad
China vice premier to meet US delegation for trade talks: Beijing
7 June 2025 23:12 Beijing (AFP)Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will meet a US delegation for talks next week in Britain, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two will visit the United Kingdom from June 8 to 13 at the invitation of the British government, China's foreign ministry said in a said He and American representatives will co-chair the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation President Donald Trump had already announced on Friday that a new round of trade talks with China would kick off in London beginning Monday, after he spoke by phone with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a bid to end a bitter battle over posted on his Truth Social platform that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer would meet the Chinese discussions will mark the second round of such negotiations between the world's two biggest economies since Trump launched his trade war shortly after returning to the White House in January.A first meeting, held in mid-May in Geneva, brought a pause to the US-China trade Thursday the Republican president finally discussed the issues with Xi for the first time since the trade tensions soared, assuring that the conversation had been positive. Xi for his part told Trump the two should "correct the course" of bilateral relations, according to remarks quoted by official Chinese media.
Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Thousands march in Rome against Israel's war on Gaza
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Rome on Saturday to protest the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, in a massive demonstration led by opposition groups accusing Italy's government of being complicit in Israel's assault. 'Stop the massacre, stop complicity!' read a banner at the front of the march, as a sea of Palestinian flags, rainbow peace banners, and 'Free Palestine' signs stretched down the capital's avenues. Organisers estimated the turnout at around 300,000. The peaceful protest moved from Piazza Vittorio to San Giovanni, where speakers condemned the violence in Gaza and criticised the silence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right government. Protestors hold a banner reading "Free Palestine" as they join a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome on June 7, 2025 (AFP) A man holds a placard reading "Free Palestine" as he joins a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome on June 7, 2025 (AFP) Protesters holds puppets on the shape of human bodies covered with fake blood as they join a demonstration called by Italian opposition parties in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Rome (AFP)
