ROME (BN24) — Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and cities across Europe on Saturday protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, demonstrating growing international anger over the two-year-old conflict that has devastated the Palestinian territory.
The protests in nearly every major Spanish city had been planned for weeks, while the demonstration in Rome followed widespread outrage after Israeli forces intercepted a humanitarian aid flotilla that had departed Barcelona attempting to break the blockade of Gaza.
Rome police reported 250,000 attendees at Saturday’s demonstration, while organizers claimed 1 million participated in the second consecutive day of Italian protests. Italy had already witnessed more than 2 million people rally Friday during a one-day general strike supporting Palestinians in Gaza.
In Spain, officials said 100,000 people marched in Madrid while another 70,000 filled downtown Barcelona. Madrid march organizers raised their attendance estimate to 400,000, while Barcelona organizers claimed 300,000 participants.
The demonstrations across southern Europe occurred as Hamas announced it had accepted certain elements of a plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war, which has left Gaza’s largest city experiencing famine conditions and generated accusations of genocide against Israel.
While protests remained largely peaceful, several hours after Barcelona’s official demonstration concluded, clashes erupted between police and several hundred people, some of whom vandalized stores and created panic among shoppers and bystanders.
Spanish activists also called for marches in Valencia, Sevilla, Malaga and other cities throughout the country. Smaller rallies took place in Paris, Lisbon, Athens, Skopje in North Macedonia, and in London and Manchester, England.
The Rome protest followed a route near the Colosseum, organized by three Palestinian organizations alongside local unions and students. At Piazza San Giovanni, protesters chanted and applauded the name of Francesca Albanese, an Italian serving as United Nations special rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territories and a vocal critic of Israel.
Although organizers requested only Palestinian flags be displayed, some banners praised militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. One read “October 7, Day of Palestinian Resistance,” referencing the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war, while another large flag stated “Death, death to the IDF,” referring to Israel Defense Forces. A group also chanted the same slogan, state broadcaster RAI reported.
Opposition lawmaker Riccardo Magi, secretary of the center-left Piu Europa party who participated in the march, criticized Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government for refusing to recognize a Palestinian state, following the example of Spain, France, the United Kingdom and other Western countries.
“Meloni cannot continue with this obscene victimhood: these are spontaneous demonstrations against the inaction and complicity of her government,” Magi told Italian media. “She must acknowledge this and begin working diplomatically for peace.”
Spain has experienced an upsurge of Palestinian support in recent weeks as its left-wing government intensifies diplomatic efforts against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. Protests against an Israeli-owned cycling team repeatedly disrupted the Spanish Vuelta last month, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez characterized Gaza’s destruction as “genocide” and requested banning all Israeli teams from international sporting events.
Barcelona’s day of protests began with crowds packing the wide Passeig de Gracia, the city’s main central boulevard, before noon. Numerous families attended alongside people of all ages carrying Palestinian flags. Hand-held signs bore messages including “Gaza hurts me,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Hands off the flotilla.”
More than 40 Spaniards, including a former Barcelona mayor, were among 450 activists that Israel removed from the flotilla’s boats this week. About 50 Spaniards aboard the flotilla have been detained by Israel, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told public television in a Saturday broadcast interview.
MarÃa Jesús Parra, 63, waved a Palestinian flag after traveling an hour from another town to Barcelona. She wants the European Union to act against what she described as horrors she watches on television news.
“How is it possible that we are witnessing a genocide happening live after what we as Europe experienced in the 1940s?” Parra said. “Now nobody can say they didn’t know what was happening.”
Madrid marchers proceeded behind banners reading “Shame” and “Racist War, Free Palestine,” while chanting “Netanyahu is a Killer.” Marta Carranza, a 65-year-old pensioner demonstrating in Barcelona with a Palestinian flag on her back, said Israel’s policy “has been wrong for many years and we have to take to the streets.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla, intercepted Wednesday, had departed Barcelona in early September seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, where a United Nations-backed hunger monitor says famine has taken hold across the territory.
In Dublin, several thousand people marched through the city center marking what organizers described as “two years of genocide” in Gaza. Along with Ireland, Spain ranks among Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Irish speakers called for sanctions on Israel, immediate conflict cessation and Palestinian involvement in any ceasefire plan.
In London, police reported making at least 442 arrests at a gathering supporting the proscribed Palestine Action group, reflecting ongoing tensions over demonstrations related to the conflict.
Approximately 10,000 people gathered in Paris, where Helene Coron, spokesperson for the French contingent of the Sumud Flotilla, told crowds they would never stop their efforts. “This flotilla didn’t get to Gaza. But we will send another, then another until Palestine and Gaza are free,” she declared.
Meloni’s right-wing Italian government has faced criticism for perceived inaction regarding Gaza’s siege. Saturday, Meloni accused demonstrators of defacing a statue of Pope John Paul II with graffiti in front of Rome’s main railway station, calling it a “shameful act.”
On September 14, approximately 100,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators forced the final stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race in Madrid to halt because an Israeli team was competing. Sánchez subsequently stated Israel should be barred from international sport over the Gaza war, similar to Russia’s penalization over its Ukraine invasion.
Spain announced in September it would ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, demonstrating the government’s increasingly critical stance toward Israeli policies.
While protests likely will not sway Israel’s government, protesters hope demonstrations could inspire additional rallies and encourage European leaders to adopt harder lines against Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The Gaza war began after Hamas’s October 2023 attack left approximately 1,200 people dead while 251 others were taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 people and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. United Nations agencies and many independent experts view these figures as the most reliable estimates of wartime casualties.
