University students in Rome demand end to cooperation with Israel

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A group of students staged a demonstration Tuesday at a university in Rome, demanding an end to cooperation with Israel, according to media reports.

In solidarity with Palestinians, some students attempted to enter the dean's office at La Sapienza University, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The protest was held to denounce the university's "complicity" with Israel, with its Senate set to decide on further cooperation with Israel on academic projects, added the report.

"Enough deals with Israeli universities and the war industry," said the Cambiare Rotta (Change Course) group.

Protesting Dean Antonella Polimeni, the group unfurled a Palestinian flag and chanted slogans, criticizing the cooperation with Israel.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

More than 32,400 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 74,800 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.