The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, issued the following statement:
“October 7, 2023, remains and will remain in consciences as a vile page in history: a cowardly terrorist attack that took place against defenseless Israeli citizens, doing great harm to the cause of peace and mutual security in Palestine. A wound that affected every people.
The horror and condemnation, publicly and repeatedly expressed, for Israel’s cruel and unacceptable gun violence – which makes the people of Gaza pay an intolerable price of death, hunger and despair, which it is imperative to end, with the need for Israel to fully apply the norms of international humanitarian law – does not mitigate horror and condemnation for the gruesome and heinous violence consummated that day by Hamas.
The killing and violence against hundreds of girls and boys listening to music at a rave, those, in their homes, against defenseless people of all ages, from childhood to old age, call to mind the duty of perpetual condemnation, rejecting an accommodating and cynical way of thinking that removes the infamy of that day.
What is happening in Gaza and the different sentiments it arouses cannot flow into the vile one of anti-Semitism, which, particularly in the last century, touched peaks of monstrous atrocity, and which today appears to be resurfacing at times, grounded in imbecility and spreading hatred.
Two years after October 7, 2023, I wish to renew my closeness to the people of Israel and to the families of the victims and the kidnapped persons, who must be freed immediately, in the hope that the attempts to put an end to this unprecedented wave of violence will have a positive outcome as soon as possible.”
[Courtesy translation]
Rome, October 7, 2025.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni issued the following statement:
Two years have passed since the abominable massacre by Hamas terrorists against thousands of defenceless and innocent Israeli civilians, including women and children. Those unspeakable crimes make 7 October one of history’s darkest episodes.
Today, we once again offer our sympathy to the victims’ families and reiterate our call for the release of the hostages, who are still waiting to return home after two years of imprisonment, torment and suffering.
Hamas’s violence triggered an unprecedented crisis in the Middle East. Israel’s military reaction has gone beyond any principle of proportionality and is claiming too many innocent victims among the civilian population of Gaza.
Today’s anniversary comes at a moment in time when a concrete possibility of ending this war is in sight. The peace plan presented by President Trump, which has been met with strong support not only from European nations but Arab and Islamic nations too, offers an opportunity that must not be wasted, to reach a permanent cessation of the hostilities, bring home the hostages still being held by Hamas and initiate a process towards a framework for peace and security throughout the Middle East.
We all have a duty to do everything we can to make this precious and fragile opportunity a success. Italy has never failed to contribute to this end, and it will continue to do its part.
[Courtesy translation]
Rome, Oct. 7, 2025.
