Rome: Millions of people marched through the streets of Rome to protest the war in Gaza, with the rally called by opposition parties condemning the government’s alleged “complicity”.

“Stop the massacre, stop the complicity!” read a vast banner held by protesters at the start of the march, amidst a sea of ​​red, white and green Palestinian flags, peace banners and “Free Palestine” signs.

The peaceful protest attracted a large crowd that organizers estimated at 300,000 people. Police later said those estimates had been “largely confirmed,” according to Italian news agency AGI.

It made its way from Rome’s central Piazza Vittorio to San Giovanni, where speakers took to a stage to call for an end to the violence and condemn the silence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Italian government.

Elie Schlein, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called the turnout against the war “a tremendous public response.” “It is unbearable to witness the massacre of 60,000 people, including 20,000 children,” the 67-year-old told AFP. “Enough is enough.”

“In other countries, as you know, protests have attracted millions of people, so I hope that today in Rome we can send a signal to all of Italy, so that everyone takes to the streets and, above all, strive for peace.”

Italy’s Five Star Movement and the Greens–Left Alliance were also behind the protests.

Schlein told reporters that the demonstration was to “say enough to the massacre of Palestinians, say enough to the crimes of Netanyahu’s far-right government” and show the world “another Italy.”

“An Italy that does not remain silent like the Meloni government, an Italy that seeks peace, wants an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, humanitarian aid, and the recognition of the state of Palestine.”

The leader of the Five Star Movement, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, told the crowd that they were there “not as accomplices to genocide” and rejected any accusations of anti-Semitism from the protesters.

Israel is under growing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.

In Italy, Meloni has been pressured by the opposition to condemn Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza, but his criticism has softened.

Last month, Maloney described the humanitarian situation as “more and more dramatic and unjustifiable” and said he had had “often difficult conversations” with Netanyahu, while also noting that “it was not Israel that started the hostilities”.

Many protesters came from all over Italy to participate in the demonstration at the Capitol, including Gabriella Branca, a lawyer from Genoa.