Thousands in Italy rally for Palestine before Nations League match versus Israel

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) – Protesting months of Israeli attacks on both Gaza and Lebanon, thousands on Monday showed solidarity with Palestine before Italy played Israel in a UEFA Nations League match.

Demonstrators gathered in Udine, northeastern Italy waved Palestinian flags and unfurled banners saying "Free Palestine," "Stop the Genocide," and "Italy vs. Israel match result = humanity's defeat" to protest Israel's genocide in Gaza, and the Israeli national football team.

Hosts Italy hammered Israel 4-1 in the match at Udine's Bluenergy Stadium as the Azzurri (Blues) keep leading Group A2.

Italian full-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored twice against Israel to play a key role for a home win. Mateo Retegui and Davide Frattesi also brought goals home.

Rally organizers said nearly 3,000 people took part. Italian security forces imposed strict measures in and around the stadium.

Before the kickoff, many Italian fans booed the Israeli anthem, but several others applauded.

Pointing to Russia’s longtime exclusion from international sports due to the Ukraine war, many observers have asked why the same has not happened to Israel over its massacres and apparent war crimes in Gaza.

- Israel's war on Gaza, ground operation in Lebanon

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas last October.

In the year since, Israel’s attacks have killed over 42,000 people, most of them women and children, and injured more than 98,000, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Additionally, since Sept. 23, Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,500 people, injuring over 4,500 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid its relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.