Italian MPs protest Gaza massacre at Egypt’s Rafah border

• Italian parliamentarians protested on Sunday in front of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.

“Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre,” Cecilia Strada, an Italian member of the European parliament, told AFP.

The group – including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs – held signs reading “Stop genocide now”, “End illegal occupation” and “Stop arming Israel”.

“There should be a complete embargo on weapons to and from Israel and a stop to trade with illegal settlements,” Strada said.

The protesters laid toys on the ground in solidarity with Gaza’s children, hundreds of thousands of whom face starvation after 11 weeks of Israel’s blockade.

At least 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to the United Nations.

Israel has faced mounting pressure to lift its suffocating aid blockade, as the UN and humanitarian agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

In an address to the UN Security Council this week, the UN’s humanitarian chief appealed to global powers do they all they can to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the Palestinians.

Israel began an expanded military campaign several days ago which has killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians

It resumed its offensive on 18 March, ending a two-month truce in the war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

“We hear the bombs right now,” Walter Massa, president of Italian non-profit organisation Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana, told AFP near the crossing.

“The Israeli army continues to do what it believes is right in the face of an international community that does not intervene, and in Gaza, beyond the Rafah crossing border, people continue to die,” he said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday said he was “alarmed” at the escalation and called for “a permanent ceasefire, now”.

Italy’s government on Saturday reiterated its calls to Israel to stop attacking Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: “Enough with the attacks.”

“We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer,” Tajani said.

Gaza’s health ministry said Sunday 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,339.