Pro-Palestinian protesters approached the gates of the Italy football team’s training centre on Friday to demand the cancellation of its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Israel due to the war on Gaza.

The protest was part of a national strike that was reacting to Israeli forces’ interdiction of an aid flotilla.

Italy is scheduled to host Israel in Udine on October 14. But UEFA is considering suspending Israel over the war. The players were not at the Coverciano training centre in Florence, but the squad will convene there on Monday.

Protesters appeared to behave peacefully on the opposite side of the street from the football complex, holding aloft a banner that read in Italian, “Let’s stop Zionism with the resistance.” A protest leader grabbed a microphone and shouted, “How can you

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