RSS
Italian Soccer Coaches Demand FIFA, UEFA Suspend Israel From All International Competitions
Hapoel Be’er Sheva FC supporters have fun during the second qualifying round, first leg match between AEK FC and Hapoel Be’er Sheva FC at OPAP Arena in Athens, Greece, on July 24, 2025. Photo: Stefanos Kyriazis via Reuters Connect
The Association of Italian Coaches, also known as the Assoallenatori (AIAC), sent a letter to Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina on Monday asking for Israel’s temporary suspension from international competitions, and for the same request to be forwarded to the UEFA and FIFA.
The AIAC described the move “on behalf of the Palestinian people” as “not only symbolic, but a necessary choice, responding to a moral imperative, shared by the entire AIAC leadership team.” The association is led by Renzo Ulivieri.
“After an initial meeting within the presidency council, convened by Ulivieri, the national board of directors of the Assoallenatori unanimously resolved to send a letter-appeal to the president of the FIGC and to all federation members, urging Italian soccer to mobilize, in its own area, on behalf of the Palestinian people, putting forward a request, to be forwarded to UEFA and FIFA, for a temporary suspension of Israel from international competitions,” the AIAC announced.
Ulivieri said “the values of humanity” compel the AIAC to take action against “acts of oppression with terrible consequences.”
“Too many innocent deaths. Among them, many athletes. This is yet another reason to seek international countermeasures, including in our sector,” added Vice President Giuseppe Vossi.
“The world is in flames. Many people, like the Palestinians, are suffering. Indifference is unacceptable,” added Vice President Roberto Perondi.
Italy’s national football team is slated to compete against Israel in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers on Sept. 8 and Oct. 14.
In its letter to Gravina, the AIAC drew attention to the Hamas-orchestrated terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – while calling Hamas terrorists “a non-secondary part of the problem” – but also accused Israel of genocide and “daily massacres” in the Gaza Strip. The letter additionally mentioned Palestinian football player Suleiman al-Obeid, who was allegedly killed by Israeli military forces, although Israel has never confirmed his death.
“Can the terrorist massacre carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, with over a thousand innocent Israeli victims plus the taking of 250 hostages, justify the fierce genocidal retaliation of Israel, which killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians?” the AIAC wrote. “The enormity of the events that are taking place in those stricken territories requires an awareness on the part of everyone and also, in our opinion, a concrete action, commensurate with the drama taking place … It is legitimate, necessary, indeed, [a] duty, to put at the center of the debate the request, to be proposed to UEFA and FIFA, the temporary exclusion of Israel from sports competitions. Because the pain of the past cannot obscure any consciousness and humanity.”
The letter did not mention Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
Nonetheless, the AIAC further criticized the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming Israel has been “blatantly deaf to the appeals that are addressed to him from many sides, including participating street demonstrations and important voices of his own people” to bring an end to the Israel-Hamas war. The Italian coaches’ association also invoked the Holocaust while condemning Israel’s actions during the current war in the Middle East.
“In the face of the Holocaust … No one wants to remove the bookmark of memory. But history did not stop at that horror [the Holocaust] and questions us today, with no exceptions for any nation,” the letter stated. “Let’s not forget that the biblical ‘an eye for an eye’ remains a formula entrusted by God to Moses so that the reaction to an evil suffered is not disproportionate. This applies to every individual, and even more so to a democratic state.”
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.