According to information released on the Rai News website, the spontaneous marches were in response to Tel Aviv’s arrest of some 145 participants in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was headed to the Strip, where more than 66,000 Palestinians have already died due to Zionist attacks.

In Rome, more than 5,000 protesters gathered the day before at the Colosseum and marched through central avenues to Piazza Ostiense, where the organizers declared the demonstration over. However, many people remained in the square to sing and wave flags, while further demonstrations are expected this Thursday.

In Milan, the march started in Piazzale Lodi and ended in Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci, while in Naples, the demonstration started in Piazza Municipio, the seat of the City Hall, and was stopped by police in Piazza della Repubblica, near the US Consulate.

Large protests were also reported in Bologna, Bergamo, Turin, Brescia, Saronno, Cagliari, Lecco, Piacenza, Chieti, Bari, Salerno, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Padua, Taranto, Bergamo, Ferrara, Venice, Varese, Lecco, Florence, and many other cities across the country, the source noted.

A report published Thursday by the newspaper Il Mattino states that the flotilla activists detained by Israel were transferred to Ketziot prison, and among them are nine Italians.

On board the lead vessel, Conscience, were medical personnel and journalists, who reported their imprisonment in the penitentiary located in the Negev Desert.

Lawyers for that group reported that they were prevented from entering the port with cell phones and were also unable to meet with the 145 detainees on those vessels, who were intercepted by Israeli naval units at dawn on October 8, approximately 120 nautical miles from Gaza.

jdt/ro/ort