7,000 people defy ban to join pro-Palestinian rally in Rome.

Rome riot police on Saturday fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally that Italian authorities had banned from taking place.

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni expressed the government's "full solidariety" with the police, amid reports that 30 officers were injured in violent clashes.

Three protesters and a photographer were also reportedly injured.

"It is intolerable that dozens of officers were injured during a demonstration", Meloni wrote on social media, adding that the police were "insulted and attacked by self-styled "demonstrators" who use any pretext to vent their absurd violence."

Esprimo la piena solidarietà, mia e del Governo, alle Forze dell'ordine, insultate e aggredite da sedicenti "manifestanti" che usano ogni pretesto per sfogare la loro assurda violenza. È intollerabile che decine di agenti vengano feriti durante una manifestazione di piazza.…

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) October 5, 2024

The rally, which was attended by an estimated 7,000 people despite the ban, took place amid tight security in front of the Pyramid of Cestius, with all surrounding exit routes blockaded by riot police.

The demonstration began peacefully at around 15.00 but a couple of hours later a group of protesters, many of them hooded, started throwing stones, bottles, fireworks and sign posts at police who responded with tear gas, water cannon and baton charges.

"What happened today in Rome confirms the validity of the reasons behind the ban issued by the Rome police headquarters", the interior minstry stated on Friday evening, stressing that its theory that the rally would be "infiltrated" had been confirmed.

Rome riot police fire tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds at pro-Palestinian rally banned by Italian authorities #5ottobre pic.twitter.com/NHM9thDbMN

— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) October 5, 2024

Police carried out a major security operation ahead of the demonstration, setting up roadblocks on motorways and carrying out checks at train stations in Rome, as protesters made their way to the capital from across the country.

The rally had been banned on public safety grounds by security chiefs who claimed the timing of the event - two days before the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October last year - risked glorifying the massacre.

Gli scontri a #Roma al #corteo non autorizzato pro #Palestina. Lancio di bottiglie, sassi e pali contro le forze dell’ordine che hanno risposto con idranti, cariche e lacrimogeni pic.twitter.com/9St7Hs7lSH

— Tg2 (@tg2rai) October 6, 2024

Organisers of the rally had appealed to the Lazio adminstrative tribunal to overturn the ban, which the courts upheld, while a significant number of Palestinians in Rome and the Lazio region decided to accept the order and scheduled a new rally on 12 October.

On Saturday evening Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi telephoned the chief of state police Vittorio Pisani to express his appreciation for "the work of the police forces who, as always, showed great professionalism and balance, guaranteeing public order on a difficult day."

Photo and video Wanted in Rome