Thousands rally for Gaza in Islamabad after ceasefire agreement
NewsFeed Thousands of students rallied in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, after a Gaza ceasefire deal was announced, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and urging action to support those affected by the war. Published On 9 Oct 20259 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
France’s Macron to appoint new prime minister within 48 hours
The announcement came after last-ditch talks by outgoing premier Sebastien Lecornu failed to find a solution to crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister within the next 48 hours, his office has said, in the latest effort to chart a path out of the worst political crisis of his presidency. The announcement on Wednesday followed two days of last-ditch talks with party leaders by outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu in a bid to break the country’s political deadlock, after his cabinet lineup, unveiled on Sunday, was rejected by allies and rivals alike. The Elysee presidential office said in a statement that Lecornu’s discussions with various parties had concluded that a majority of lawmakers were not in favour of parliament being dissolved for early elections, and that there was “a platform for stability” that could make it possible for a budget to be passed by the year’s end. “On this basis, the President of the Republic will appoint a Prime Minister within the next 48 hours,” said the statement. Macron thanked Lecornu for his work since Monday to resolve the crisis, the office said. Ahead of the announcement, it had been unclear whether Macron would opt to reappoint Lecornu or name a replacement, call snap elections or even resign himself. Escalating crisis In September, Macron tasked Lecornu – the fifth prime minister he has installed in less than two years – with forming a government after the divided French parliament toppled his predecessor, Francois Bayrou, over a much-maligned austerity budget intended to tackle a debt crisis. But despite Lecornu’s promises of a departure from Bayrou’s approach, his cabinet, unveiled on Sunday evening, immediately drew fierce criticism from both the right and left for containing many of the same faces from the previous administration. Advertisement Lecornu resigned the following day, making his 14-hour administration the shortest in modern French history, but then added to the confusion when he announced he would hold 48 hours of talks at Macron’s request to try to agree on a new cabinet. The move prompted renewed criticism of the increasingly isolated Macron, including from former premier Edouard Philippe, once a close ally of the president, who was one of many calling for presidential elections to resolve the crisis. ‘I tried everything’ Speaking to French TV earlier Wednesday, Lecornu said he had told Macron that the prospects of snap elections had diminished as there was a majority in the lower house opposed to the dissolution of parliament. “I tried everything,” he said of his efforts to find a deal to end the crisis. “This evening, my mission is finished.” He suggested that a more technocratic and less political administration could follow, saying that any new cabinet appointments should not harbour ambitions to stand in the next presidential elections. He also pushed back against calls for snap presidential polls ahead of the scheduled 2027 elections, saying it was “not the time to change the president”. “Let’s not make the French believe that it’s the president who votes the budget,” he said. The French parliament has been sharply divided since Macron, in response to surging gains by the far right, announced snap elections last year, resulting in a hung parliament. With no governing majority, the parliament has been unable to approve a crucial budget to tackle France’s growing debt crisis. Meanwhile, proposed spending cuts have prompted nationwide protests, while opposition parties – who are calling for early elections and are pledging to block any new cabinet – have seized momentum. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,323
Here are the key events from day 1,323 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 9 Oct 20259 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Thursday, October 9, 2025: Fighting Three people were killed and one injured by Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s Belgorod region, the local governor said. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces had taken control of the settlement of Novohryhorivka in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region. Russia’s air defence units destroyed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing Russian Defence Ministry data. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that his country’s forces had killed thousands of Russian soldiers in the Dobropillia region of eastern Ukraine since August 21, when they launched a counteroffensive against Moscow’s occupying troops. Zelenskyy said this information was based on a report he had received from the Ukrainian army’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskii. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s oil facilities had degraded them to an extent that the country was experiencing energy shortages. Russia, he claimed, had been forced to turn to its diesel reserves, which it had been saving for “a rainy day”. Ukrainian soldiers ride a military vehicle with Russian POWs in the truck bed, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in the Sumy region, Ukraine, August 13, 2024 [Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters] Regional security European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said recent drone incidents and other airspace violations show Europe is facing hybrid warfare to which it must respond with measures that go beyond traditional defences, speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Von der Leyen said it was clear Russia’s aim was to “sow division” and “weaken support for Ukraine”, and that Europe could “either shy away and watch Russian threats escalate, or meet them with unity, deterrence and resolve”. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has denied that Moscow was behind the recent drone incursions into the airspaces of multiple European nations. Advertisement Military aid Russia will respond harshly if the United States supplies Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, said, emphasising that “those who supply them and those who use them will have problems”. Diplomacy Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the impetus to find a Ukrainian peace deal, which emerged after the summit between President Putin and US President Donald Trump in August, had proven to be exhausted. Ryabkov urged US leadership to take a “sober and responsible approach” to a possible transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying such transactions could lead to a “qualitative change” in the situation. Adblock test (Why?)
LIVE: Trump says Israel, Hamas agree on ‘first phase’ of Gaza ceasefire
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Gaza ceasefire breakthrough announced on third day of talks in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh on US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace proposal. Published On 9 Oct 20259 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,322
Here are the key events from day 1,322 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 8 Oct 20258 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is how things stand on Wednesday, October 8, 2025: Fighting Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces have captured almost 5,000 square kilometres (1,930sq miles) of Ukrainian territory so far this year, and Moscow retains the strategic initiative on the battlefield. Russian troops have captured the Ukrainian villages of Novovasylivka in the southeastern Zaporizhia region and Fedorivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s defence ministry said. Russian air defence units destroyed 184 Ukrainian drones in recent attacks, the RIA Novosti state-owned news agency reports. Russia’s air defence units also intercepted and destroyed a drone flying towards Moscow city, said Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of the Russian capital. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, right, as Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, centre, stands nearby during a visit to the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on October 7, 2025 [Mikhail Metzel/AFP] Ukraine’s Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said Russian air strikes have caused “significant” damage to Ukrainian gas production capacity due to the targeting of regional gas infrastructure and power transmission facilities in front-line regions. Hrynchuk said Ukraine wants to increase imports of natural gas by 30 percent after Russian attacks on its gas infrastructure, telling reporters she had discussed additional gas imports with Group of Seven (G7) member states. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using oil tankers for intelligence gathering and sabotage operations, and he added that Ukraine was cooperating with its allies on the matter. Russia’s state nuclear energy company has claimed that a Ukrainian drone attempted to strike a nuclear plant in Russia’s Voronezh region bordering Ukraine, but the unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into a cooling tower and caused no damage at the site. Advertisement Military aid Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was waiting for clarity from the United States about the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, saying such weapons could theoretically carry nuclear warheads and reiterated that Moscow would see the provision of such weapons as a serious escalation. The Kremlin also said it assumed for now that US President Donald Trump still sought a peace settlement in Ukraine. Peace talks Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with President Putin and said diplomatic initiatives need to gain momentum to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdogan’s office said. The statement cited Erdogan as saying Turkiye will continue to work for peace and said bilateral relations and regional and global issues were also discussed with Putin. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she believed Trump had come to the conclusion that Russia was not interested in a peace deal with Ukraine, and that the only way forward was to apply pressure, continue to support Ukraine, and impose sanctions on Russia. Politics and diplomacy Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it is not in Poland’s interest to hand over a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany for suspected involvement in explosions which damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines three years ago. Tusk said the problem with Nord Stream 2 was not that it was blown up but that it was built. He added that Russia built the pipelines “against the vital interests not only of our countries, but of all of Europe”. A Polish court ruled on Monday that the Ukrainian diver wanted by Germany over his alleged involvement in the explosions, which damaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline, must remain in custody for another 40 days, his lawyer said. European Union governments have agreed to impose limits on the travel of Russian diplomats within the bloc, the Financial Times reported. Economy Ukraine’s foreign currency reserves totalled $46.5bn as of October 1, the National Bank of Ukraine reported on its website. Adblock test (Why?)
Muslims in India’s poll-bound Bihar battle ‘Bangladeshi infiltrator’ tag
Kishanganj/Katihar, India – More than a decade ago, when Mukhtar Alam* studied at a government school in Kishanganj, the only Muslim-majority district in eastern India’s Bihar state, he had Hindu friends. Alam was especially close to one of them. The two would do their studies and school projects together. Alam would avoid meat when they ate together so as not to make his vegetarian friend uncomfortable. But an incident two years ago created a rift in their friendship, which has not been bridged since. Addressing a rally in Kishanganj, Jitanram Manjhi, a former chief minister of Bihar and a prominent ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the Shershahbadi community of Muslims were “infiltrators” from Bangladesh, India’s neighbour in the east, where more than 91 percent of the population is Muslim and mainly speaks Bangla. The term Shershahbadi is derived from the historical Shershahbad region, which includes areas in the neighbouring West Bengal state. The name Shershahbad, in turn, is believed to be derived from Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan king who defeated the mighty Mughals and briefly ruled over the modern regions of Bihar and Bengal (including Bangladesh) in the 16th century. Shershahbadi Muslims hold placards that read ‘Long live Shershahbadi unity’ and ‘Hindus-Muslims are brothers’ at a rally in Kishanganj, Bihar [Shah Faisal/Al Jazeera] Unlike Hindi and its dialects, as well as Urdu, spoken widely across Bihar, the Shershahbadi Muslims speak a dialect of Bangla mixed with Urdu and Hindi words. They are often referred to as “Badia” (a likely short form of Shershahbadi) or “Bhatia”, which derives its origin from the local dialect “Bhato”, meaning going against the river’s stream, since the Shershahbadi Muslims are said to have migrated upstream of the Ganges River from Malda to Murshidabad in West Bengal state, and finally to the Seemanchal region in Bihar, India’s most impoverished state. Advertisement “We felt threatened [by Manjhi’s speech],” Alam, a Shershahbadi Muslim and graduate in business administration, told Al Jazeera. Refusing to stay silent, he posted his condemnation on Facebook. Within minutes, a comment in Hindi popped up under his post: “You people are Bangladeshi infiltrators.” It was his best friend. “Reading that comment sent a shiver down my spine,” recalled the 30-year-old Alam, sitting under the thatched roof of a primary school he runs. “The comment created a rift between us. We developed trust issues and lost our brotherhood, our friendship.” Alam is one of 1.3 million Shershahbadi Muslims in Bihar, according to a “caste census” published by the state government in 2023, and most of them live in Kishanganj and Katihar districts. As Bihar, India’s third-most populous state, heads towards crucial elections to its legislature that could impact national politics, it is these districts that have emerged as the focus of a high-pitched BJP campaign against supposed “Bangladeshi infiltrators”. Why Shershahbadi Muslims? As India celebrated its Independence Day on August 15 last month, Prime Minister Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Mughal-era Red Fort in New Delhi, in which he announced the formation of a “high-powered demography mission” to find the infiltrators. “No country can hand itself over to infiltrators. No nation in the world does so – how then can we allow India to do so?” Modi said, without specifying who those infiltrators were. He added that through the mission, “the severe crisis now looming” over the country will be addressed in a “deliberate and time-bound manner”. His government has not yet provided details on the workings of the mission. Hindu right-wing groups in India often use the term “Bangladeshi infiltrator” to target Bangla-speaking Muslims mainly in the states of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. In Assam, where Modi’s BJP has been in power since 2016, the state government has been running a campaign against Bangla-speaking Muslims, labelling them “outsiders” and accusing them of trying to alter the regional demography. Nearly a third of Assam’s population is Muslim – the highest among Indian states. Only the federally run territories of Indian-administered Kashmir in the north and the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea have a higher Muslim percentage than Assam. In Bihar, the Muslim population stands at 17 million, or nearly 17 percent of its total population of 104 million, according to India’s last census conducted in 2011. About 28.3 percent of those Muslims are concentrated in what is commonly referred to as Seemanchal (“frontier region” in Hindi), comprising Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria and Purnia districts. Katihar, Kishanganj and Purnia share their borders with West Bengal state, while the Bangladesh border is just a few kilometres from Seemanchal. Bihar will hold its state assembly election in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with the results to be announced on November 14. Advertisement The BJP has never formed a government on its own in the key northern state, ruling it for a good part of the past 20 years in coalition with a regional ally. Critics accuse it of now using the “Bangladeshi infiltrator” pitch in Seemanchal to polarise the region’s voters on religious and linguistic lines. In the last two years, Alam says his worries have increased manifold as Modi himself leads the BJP’s charge against his community. “Those indulging in vote bank politics have turned Purnia and Seemanchal into a hub of illegal infiltration, putting the security of this area at risk,” Modi had said last year while campaigning in Purnia for the general elections. He repeated his stance in the BJP’s election rallies in several districts of Bihar this year. “Today, a huge demographic crisis has happened in Seemanchal and across eastern India because of infiltrators,” Modi said in Purnia last week, promising to “throw every single infiltrator out”. That drive is already under way in other parts of India. ‘Demons have come from Bangladesh’ Authorities in several BJP-ruled states have been cracking down on allegedly “illegal” Bangladeshi nationals, with hundreds of Bengali-speaking people deported from Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and New Delhi – despite most of them holding valid documents
Italy’s Meloni says ICC complaint accuses her of Gaza genocide complicity
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has been accused of “complicity in genocide” in a complaint lodged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Rome’s support for Israel as it bombards Gaza. Meloni made the statement during an interview with state television company RAI, in the first public comment on the situation, which has not been confirmed by the international court. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Meloni said Defence Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have also been “denounced”, referring to when the court is officially alerted to a possible crime. She said that she believes that Roberto Cingolani, head of Italian weapons and aerospace company Leonardo, might also have been named. The complaint, dated October 1, was signed by some 50 people, including law professors, lawyers, and several public figures who accused Meloni and others of complicity by supplying arms to Israel, according to the AFP news agency. “By supporting the Israeli government, particularly through the supply of lethal weapons, the Italian government has become complicit in the ongoing genocide and the extremely serious war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people,” the authors of the court filing against the Italian leaders wrote. The Palestinian advocacy group behind the complaint naming Meloni is calling for the court to assess the possibility of opening a formal investigation into the charge of genocide against the Italian prime minister, AFP also reported. Advertisement Last month, a UN Independent Inquiry found that Israel’s war on Gaza is a genocide, adding to similar assessments from a broad range of experts in human rights, genocide and international law. The ICC has outstanding arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation, murder and persecution. However, neither Netanyahu nor Gallant has been charged with genocide specifically. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials; however, those named have all since been killed in Israeli attacks. “I don’t think there is another case in the world or in history of a complaint of this kind,” Meloni said of the complaint against her in the televised comments. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold placards of Meloni reading ‘Accomplice to genocide’ at a protest against Israeli forces intercepting the Global Sumud Flotilla, in Milan on Friday [Stefano Rellandini/AFP] ‘Major arms’ exports According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Italy was one of only three countries to export “major conventional arms” to Israel from 2020 to 2024, although the United States and Germany were responsible for 99 percent of the exports of the larger weapons category, which include aircraft, missiles, tanks and air defence systems. The major arms that Italy provided to Israel in this period included light helicopters and naval guns, SIPRI said. It is also one of several countries involved in making parts for F-35 fighter jets, under a US-led programme, SIPRI added. “Concerns about the potential use of the F-35 by Israel to carry out violations of international humanitarian law have led to much criticism of transfers of the aircraft or its parts to Israel,” SIPRI said in a recent report. Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said that Italy is only sending deliveries of arms to Israel under contracts signed before October 7, 2023 and that Italy has sought assurances from Israel that the weapons would not be used against civilians in Gaza, after Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani had earlier claimed Italy had stopped sending the weapons altogether. Meloni’s acknowledgement of the complaint against her comes as hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza in recent weeks. Italy’s major labour unions have actively supported the protests. The country’s dockworkers have threatened strike action over Israeli forces preventing the Sumud Global Flotilla from delivering aid to Gaza. Advertisement Following earlier protests, Meloni’s government sent naval ships to accompany the fleet of international vessels, but the Italian navy pulled back before Israeli forces intercepted the boats in international waters and detained close to 500 international activists. Six crew members remained in Israeli detention as of Tuesday, according to the flotilla’s organisers. Mounting legal challenges The latest complaints against Italian leaders join a growing number of legal challenges to Israel’s actions in Gaza, alongside the ICC case against Netanyahu and Gallant. At the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa has submitted a case against Israel, accusing it of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. In April this year, the ICJ ruled against pursuing a case brought by Nicaragua that accused Germany of aiding genocide in Gaza for its role in selling arms to Israel. The US, which is the largest exporter of weapons to Israel, is not a member of the ICC. It has also actively pushed back against the ICC pursuing charges against Israel. Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US was imposing sanctions on three Palestinian human rights organisations, Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, for engaging in efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals” at the ICC. Adblock test (Why?)
Italy to propose global ceasefire for 2026 Winter Olympics
A global truce for the duration of February’s 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina will be sought by hosts Italy. Published On 7 Oct 20257 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Italy will submit a proposal for a worldwide ceasefire to the United Nations before next year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani said. As a concept, a global truce during the Olympics dates to the ancient games in Greece, where warring factions agreed to put down their arms for the duration of the event, so that athletes could safely travel to and from ancient Olympia. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Calls by Olympics organisers and the UN for global ceasefires have not been heeded on the occasion of modern-era Games since 1896, including the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Milano Cortina Games open on February 6 and run to February 22. “In view of the Milano Cortina Olympics, we are presenting a proposal for an Olympic truce for all wars, including Ukraine and the Middle East, to the United Nations,” Tajani said on Tuesday. “We must be champions of peace,” he said on the sidelines of an international conference in Rome. “We support the US plan (to end the war in Gaza), and, as Pope Leo has said, we must never give up hoping for peace.” The 20-point plan presented by United States President Donald Trump, on which Israel and Hamas began indirect talks on Monday, is seen as the most promising initiative to end a war that has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on Israel that day killed 1,200 people. Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the war on Gaza. In response to Gaza’s devastation and humanitarian disaster wrought by Israel’s military campaign, a number of major Western countries, though not Italy, have formally recognised Palestinian statehood, endorsing longstanding Palestinian aspirations to an independent homeland on Israeli-occupied land. Advertisement In Ukraine, the pro-Western government has been battling a Russian invasion for more than three and a half years, in Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II and one that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Adblock test (Why?)
German mayor-elect gravely wounded in stabbing attack
Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemns ‘heinous attack’ after Iris Stalzer, mayor-elect of Herdecke, stabbed. Published On 7 Oct 20257 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share A newly elected mayor in western Germany has been critically injured in a stabbing attack, according to German media reports. Iris Stalzer, the 57-year-old mayor-elect of the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Herdecke, was stabbed in front of her home about noon (10:00 GMT) on Tuesday, leaving her with life-threatening injuries, Germany’s WDR broadcaster reported, quoting local police. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the “heinous attack” and called for a swift investigation. “We fear for the life of the designated mayor, Iris Stalzer, and hope for her full recovery,” he wrote in a post on X. According to WDR, Stalzer was repeatedly stabbed before managing to haul herself inside her home, where her children called rescue services. After finding Stalzer severely injured, rescue workers sent her to a hospital on a helicopter, according to Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster. Stalzer’s teenage son told authorities his mother had been attacked by several men, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported. Further details about the attack or potential motives were not immediately clear. Stalzer, a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, was elected mayor of the town of 22,000 people in the eastern Ruhr area on September 28. The attack came after a regionwide campaign that politicians in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest state, described as unusually hostile. A recent study found 60 percent of politicians in Germany had experienced violence at least once, with one in five saying it had made them more reluctant to appear in public. Advertisement In 2019, a conservative district government president in the state of Hesse, Walter Luebcke, a supporter of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, was shot dead by a far-right activist on his home terrace. Four years before that, Henriette Reker was stabbed by a man with anti-immigration views the day before being elected mayor of Cologne. She made a full recovery and is due to leave office later this year. Adblock test (Why?)
Italy-Israel World Cup tie faces security concerns amid protests
Italy host Israel in a World Cup qualifier on October 14, in Udine where the stadium only holds 6,000 spectators. Published On 7 Oct 20257 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Israel’s World Cup qualifying match in Italy next week is expected to attract more pro-Palestinian protesters outside the football stadium in Udine than ticket-holding spectators inside the arena. Protesters already approached the gates of Italy’s training centre in Florence last week to demand that the match not be played because of the war in Gaza — part of a national strike that saw millions of activists take to the streets. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “It’s not going to be a calm environment,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso acknowledged Tuesday from inside the Coverciano training centre that was targeted. “There will be 10,000 people outside the stadium and 5-6,000 inside the stadium.” As of Monday, only 4,000 tickets were sold for next Tuesday’s match at Stadio Friuli. While UEFA had been considering suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni had called for the game to be postponed, with Italy desperately attempting to avoid failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the four-time champion team doesn’t plan to risk not playing. “We have to play this match. Because if we don’t, we’ll lose it 3-0,” Gattuso said, referring to the rule for forfeited matches. “[Italian Football Federation] president [Gabriele] Gravina explained that very well.” There was also tension on the field between the two squads after the final whistle when Italy edged Israel 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller last month in neutral Hungary — where Israel has been playing its “home” matches during the war. The protesters in Italy and elsewhere have also been reacting to an international aid mission blocked by Israeli forces. Advertisement “It’s upsetting to see what’s happening to innocent people and children,” Gattuso said. “It hurts your heart.” Italy and Israel are level six points behind group leader Norway, with only the first-place finisher in the group to qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America. The second-place finishers progress to a playoff — the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively. “Considering that we’re trying to get to the World Cup and we need to give our absolute all, I’m sure you can understand that I would have preferred to play a home game with the enthusiasm that we saw in Bergamo a month ago,” Gattuso said, referring to a 5-0 win over Estonia. Israel could also face protests during a visit to Norway on Saturday. The Norwegian soccer federation pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF). Italy played Israel in Udine last October in the Nations League. That game went off without incident amid a heavy police presence and despite a pro-Palestinian demonstration before the game. Italy won 4-1. The Italian Football Coaches’ Association (AIAC) wrote to the Italian Football Federation in August, in a letter to be forwarded to European and world football’s governing bodies, calling for Israel to be suspended from international competition due to its war on Gaza. Adblock test (Why?)