Demonstrators clashed with police in the Italian city of Vicenza on Saturday against the presence of Israeli exhibitors at an international jewelery trade fair.
Police fired water cannons at demonstrators who fired smoke bombs and flares after violence erupted after a planned march by hundreds of people carrying banners reading “Liberate Palestine” and “Stop Bombing Gaza.” It was used.
More than 1,300 exhibitors from around 40 countries are exhibiting at the Vicenza Oro trade fair, which opened on Friday and will run until Tuesday, organizers said.
A spokesperson told AFP that the clashes occurred several kilometers away and had no impact on the event, but declined to provide information about Israel’s presence at the fair.
Vicenza’s mayor, Giacomo Possamai, said there was “no justifiable reason” for the violence.
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“It also undermines the cause it claims to support. It contradicts peace and ceasefire by demonstrating it through violence,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
The Islamic militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
The militants also captured about 250 hostages, of whom Israel says about 132 remain in Gaza. At least 27 prisoners are believed to have been killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli statistics.
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Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas, has carried out relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 24,927 Palestinians, including Approximately 70% are women, children, and adolescents.