Khaberni - Snipers are positioned on the roof of the hotel where the Israeli football team is staying in the Italian city of Udine, which declared a state of high alert prior to the qualifying match to be held later on Tuesday against the Italian team.
The sound of helicopters, monitoring the city, has been heard since the morning, hours before the kickoff of the match between Italy and Israel, which will take place at the Friuli Stadium.
The match has been classified as high-risk, despite an agreement reached to cease fire that has halted a two-year war in Gaza.
A march in support of the Palestinians is scheduled to start in the city center several hours before the beginning of the match, with approximately ten thousand people expected to gather. The march will be held away from the stadium located on the outskirts of the city.
Many shops and restaurants have decided not to open on Tuesday, and there are strict rules for those that will open, including the removal of any outdoor furniture or other items that could be used as potential weapons.
The Israeli team bus will be escorted to the stadium with maximum security measures, and there will be snipers on the roof of the stadium in addition to an intensive security presence from the police and the army.
The Italian team met with its Israeli counterpart a year ago in Udine, chosen because of the relatively difficult access to the city located in northeastern Italy near the border with Slovenia, and the ease of isolating the stadium, where barriers have been installed on the surrounding roads.
The area has been declared a "red zone," where passage through the high metal barriers is allowed only for fans carrying tickets for the match. Fans are urged to arrive early due to thorough inspections, as everyone must also pass through metal detectors.
More than 9,000 tickets have been sold for the qualifying match at the Friuli Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,000 spectators, and it is expected that the number of attendees inside the stadium will be lower than the number of participants in the march.
