(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 13 - After meeting Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had talks with President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome Friday.
    During the encounter with Mattarella, the Italian head of State expressed "concern over what is happening in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with (Israeli) settlements that contradict UN resolutions with violence against Palestinians.
    "Once there is a ceasefire in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority will have to play a central role," the head of State continued.
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    "Since the horror of October 7, an unacceptable spiral of violence has opened in Gaza, affecting civilians, women and children.
    "We are committed to a real, definitive ceasefire and to the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas.
    "We hope for an immediate two-States, two-peoples solution.
    "Without this prospect, there will always be outbreaks of violence".
    During the meeting Abbas called on Italy to officially recognise the State of Palestine, Palestinian agency Wafa reported.
    Later on Friday, Premier Giorgia Meloni met at Palazzo Chigi with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a note from the prime minister's office said.
    The premier "stressed Italy's commitment to work for a long-lasting political solution, based on a perspective of two States, in which Israel and Palestine coexist side by side in peace, with security for both", said the note issued by Palazzo Chigi.
    Meloni, the note explained, "moreover, reiterated the government's willingness of having a primary role in the stabilization and reconstruction of the Strip and of supporting the process of reform and strengthening of Palestinian institutions".
    Friday's meetings took place amid tension in Italy over the Israeli was against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
    Police in riot gear used their batons in Turin on Friday after student protesters tried to break through a cordon outside the city's Politecnico university, During the march the protesters were also blocked by police as they tried to enter the offices of Rai in the city, saying the State broadcaster was guilty of "disinformation" in its reporting on the Middle East.
    Italy's Jews, meanwhile, expressed indignation after the USB trade union said the nation's alleged support for the "genocidal Israeli government" was among its reasons for calling a 24-hour local public transport strike.
    "Dismay and astonishment - there are no other words to describe what we feel when we read the reasons for the strike," said Victor Fadlun, the president of the Jewish Community of Rome.
    "Unfortunately, we are faced with a rise of hatred towards Israel that disregards any reasonable context, and which can have no other explanation than the urge to express... an anti-Semitism that has always smouldered and has never been weakened.
    "Our task is not to remain silent, but to denounce this - always and in any situation".
    Noemi Di Segni, the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, echoed those sentiments.
    "While as citizens we understand the reasons for a strike, with all the inconvenience, as citizens of this country we reiterate that a strike is not a platform from which to proclaim slogans of hatred and distortion," said Di Segni. (ANSA).