Pro-Palestinian groups join anti-Olympics protests in Milan, demand Israel be ousted

Participants at the Saturday rally, whose fringes turn violent, call for release of activist arrested on suspicion of fundraising for Hamas

By Rossella Tercatin

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and Reuters 8 February 2026, 10:57 pm

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Pro-Palestinian groups were among the organizers of a demonstration against the Winter Olympics in the host city of Milan, whose fringes turned violent, Italian media reported on Sunday.

Although the protest, which took place on Saturday, mostly focused on the environmental and financial impact of the Olympics, at least one Pro-Palestinian activist addressed the participants, according to the daily newspaper La Repubblica.

Marchers also held placards denouncing Israel and demanding that it be ousted from the Games.

Smaller demonstrations against Israel’s participation in the Games also took place in previous days.

The Saturday demonstration started peacefully, with an estimated 10,000 people taking to the streets of Milan on the first full day of the Games. However, toward evening, a group of around 100 protesters threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of the rally.

Police in riot gear and with shields responded with water cannon to try to disperse the group, some of whose members wore hoods and scarves to cover their faces. Order was restored after a few minutes. Six people were detained, police sources said.

The march was organized by grassroots unions, housing-rights groups and social center community activists protesting against the housing costs, the presence of US ICE agents in Milan, and the felling of hundreds of trees to build the new bobsled run in the Alpine town of Cortina.

According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, pro-Palestinian groups that joined the rally demanded the release of Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, who was arrested in December with several other activists under suspicion of raising millions of euros for Hamas under the guise of fundraising for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Anti-Olympics protesters hold signs against Israel’s participation in the Olympic Games in Milan, Italy, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

“Israel is a fascist and terrorist state,” Hannoun’s son Mohammed said, addressing the crowd, according to the Italian daily La Repubblica.

Several Palestinian flags could be spotted among the protesters.

The demonstration was seen as a flashpoint after a rally last weekend by the hard-left in the city of Turin turned violent, with more than 100 police officers injured and nearly 30 protesters arrested, according to an interior ministry tally. The protest in Turin was organized by grassroots rights groups, including pro-Palestinian groups.

The Milano Cortina Games are unfolding in a tense atmosphere for the Israeli delegation.

Israel’s team walked into the San Siro stadium during the opening ceremony on Friday to a smattering of boos.

Mariia Seniuk, flag bearer of Israel, walks during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

On Saturday, the Israeli bobsled pilot AJ Edelman said the apartment that he and some fellow Olympians had been using while finishing training ahead of the Olympics was robbed, with passports and “thousands of dollars” worth of other items among what was taken.

The apartment was not located in Italy. The team has been training in Europe, but asked not to disclose the exact location.

In separate incidents in Italy on Saturday, police reported three separate cases at different locations on the rail network, which caused delays of up to two and a half hours for high-speed, intercity, and regional services.

No one has claimed responsibility for the damage, which echoed the opening day of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, when saboteurs struck France’s high-speed TGV train network, causing travel chaos.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni speaks during a press conference at the end of an intergovernmental summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, on January 23, 2026. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Following the violence, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned anti-Olympics protesters as “enemies of Italy.”

The International Olympic Committee also joined in the criticism, saying violence had no place at the Games.

Meloni praised the thousands of Italians who were working to make the Games run smoothly and present the positive face of Italy.

“Then there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians, demonstrating ‘against the Olympics’ and ensuring that these images are broadcast on television screens around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from departing,” she wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

“Peaceful protest is entirely legitimate… We draw a line at violence. That has no place at the Olympic Games,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference. “We just need to get on with the Games, which will spread a strong message of unity and peace to the world, which I think is very important at this moment in time.”