Rome, Oct 13 (UNI) Several thousand people joined a march for Palestine in the center of the Italian capital of Rome on Saturday, a week after a similar demonstration spiraled into clashes with police, media reports said.
Last week, nearly 40 people were arrested in Rome during an unauthorised demonstration in support of an independent Palestine, while dozens others were injured, a spokesperson for the Rome police force told RIA Novosti.
This time, the local authorities allowed the organizers to hold a march in the streets and squares of the Italian capital. The procession started from Piazzale Ostiense and walked for nearly 2 miles before emptying into Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, a now-traditional venue for pro-Palestinian action.
The procession passed by the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which has removed all flags, the ancient Circus Maximus and the Colosseum.
A dozen marchers carried a long banner in the colors of Palestine. National flags of Lebanon were, too, visible in the crowd, while a helicopter hovered above.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas movement attacked Israel, prompting it to retaliate with a ground incursion, which ignited the worst escalation of armed conflict in the Palestinian enclave in decades. The Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement has been firing rockets across the border into Israel with a demand that it stop aggression against the Gaza Strip.
