Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday that the government had already decided not to export arms to Israel after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Tajani said, Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein’s call for weapons not to be sent to Israel was superfluous.
“Since 7th October we have decided not to send any more arms to Israel, so there is no need to discuss this point,” Tajani said.
“The decision has been taken, we said so in Parliament”.
On Friday, Schlein said Italy “must face the issue of avoiding fuelling these conflicts, of avoiding sending arms and exporting arms to conflicts, to the conflict in the Middle East, in this case particularly to Israel”.
Police clash with protestors at trade fair
Police clashed with demonstrators protesting against Israeli participants at the VicenzaOro jewellery-sector trade fair in Vicenza on Saturday.
The clashes took place after the march, which started shortly before 11.20 a.m. with about 500 participants, deviated from the established route, with protesters trying to the area of the trade-fair centre.
At this point police in riot gear baton-charged the protesters.
The demonstrators threw smoke bombs and firecrackers and the police responded by firing water cannons. Four police officers were injured in the clashes, sources said.
“There can be no justification for the scenes we saw this morning,” said Vicenza Mayor Giacomo Possamai.
“The right to demonstrate is sacred and it is protected by the Constitution.
“But those who take to the streets carrying clubs with their faces covered go against the legacy of the founding fathers (of the republic), who wrote that article (of the Constitution) after the darkest years in the history of our country”.
