The memory

Mattarella: 7 October – a warning against ethnic and religious hatred

On the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Prime Minister Meloni has also spoken out: the spiral of violence must be stopped

by Rome Editorial Staff

7 October 2026

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Il presidente della Repubblica, Sergio Mattarella. (ANSA)

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

To mark the anniversary of the attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023, the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, issued a warning “so that the barbaric and uncivilised scourges of terrorism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred based on ethnicity and religion may be condemned forever and firmly rejected, both in the Middle East and throughout the world”.

Mattarella’s warning

For the President of the Republic, ‘today marks the tragic anniversary of the despicable attack carried out by Hamas against numerous Israeli civilians. Many young people, including those of other nationalities, were cowardly attacked, taken hostage or killed whilst gathered together for a festive occasion. Others were brutally killed or abducted in their own homes, with no mercy shown to children or the elderly. Acts of terrorism,’ adds Mattarella, ‘can never be justified or swept under the carpet. They will remain, for all peoples, a painful warning to ensure that the barbaric and uncivilised scourges of terrorism, anti-Semitism and every form of ethnic and religious hatred are forever condemned and firmly rejected, in the Middle East and throughout the world.’

The Head of State also emphasises that ‘the repugnant acts which, with extreme and inhuman cruelty, were committed on 7 October 2023’ have plunged the region back into a dramatic period of instability and violence. Added to the atrocious suffering already caused is that which, even more so since then, has been weighing heavily on multitudes of Palestinians. The military operations – as the President of the Republic points out – carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza have caused human and material devastation of intolerable severity. At the same time, the process of eroding territories allocated to the Palestinian National Authority is unacceptable’.

Hence the call for ‘the spiral of unprecedented violence’ to be halted, ‘and instead to re-establish the conditions – which are currently severely compromised – for coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians under the “Two Peoples, Two States” framework, so that they may live peacefully, side by side’.

Memories of Meloni

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is in Split to attend the Med9 summit, also commented on the issue: ‘Precisely in the interests of protecting the entire civilian population affected, we cannot remain indifferent to the dramatic and unacceptable suffering of the people of Gaza or to the escalating violence to which Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are being subjected. The spiral of violence must be stopped.’

In a statement issued by Palazzo Chigi on the anniversary of the events of 7 October 2023, the Prime Minister gave an assurance that Italia would continue to work towards a peace that guarantees security for Israelis and a future of freedom and dignity for Palestinians, with a view to two states living side by side within recognised borders. A future in which – Melon concludes – there is no place for terrorism and no child has to grow up in fear and hatred’.

Messages from Tajani and Crosetto

Meanwhile, a message marking 7 October has also come from the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani: ‘On the third anniversary of 7 October, my thoughts go out to the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks and to their families. Honouring their memory and that of all the hostages,” he adds, “remains a duty of the international community. We will continue to work for peace and stability in the Middle East, with a view to a two-state political solution that guarantees Israel’s security and the rights, dignity and future of the Palestinian people.”

In a post on X, his colleague at the Ministry of Defence, Guido Crosetto, also reiterated his ‘sympathy for the victims and their families’. He recalled that ‘inhuman and unjustifiable act, which set off a spiral of violence with tragic consequences. There is no possible justification. Our condemnation of Hamas must remain firm and unambiguous. Terrorism must be given no room to manoeuvre and must not be subject to relativism. Nor can there be any room for anti-Semitism, which must be rejected without hesitation and without ambiguity’, the minister stated.

Valditara visits the Synagogue in Rome

‘Never again, never again. At a time when even the West is experiencing a resurgence of anti-Semitism, it is the responsibility of all institutions to set the record straight, to make society aware of what happened and, in schools, from the earliest years, to educate the younger generations to respect others and to combat any form of ideological prejudice. I stand in solidarity with the Italian Jewish community at this time of mourning and silence,” said the Minister for Education and Merit during a visit to the Synagogue in Rome.