ROME: Several thousand pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Rome, calling for an immediate end to fighting and a ceasefire.
Starting from Saturday morning, demonstrators convened in the Ostiense neighbourhood in southern Rome despite having no official authorisation. Many were holding Palestinian and Lebanese flags and chanting slogans, Xinhua news agency reported.
In the afternoon, clashes broke out between some protesters and police as the protesters tried to move the rally nearer to the city centre and beyond the police cordon.
The protesters threw paper bombs and bottles at police officers, and police reacted with water cannon and tear gas, and eventually disbanded the crowd.
Some 30 law enforcement officers and three demonstrators were injured in the clashes, local media reported, citing sources with the Interior Ministry.