Italy's Gattuso 'very happy' at Gaza peace deal ahead of World Cup qualifier with Israel

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso on Monday hailed the "beautiful" Gaza peace deal ahead of his team's fraught 2026 World Cup qualifier with Israel.

The Azzurri host Israel on Tuesday in Udine, a small city which will be the scene of a massive security operation with a pro-Palestinian demonstration set take place.

Around 10,000 people are expected to protest against the staging of the match, equivalent to roughly one tenth of the population of the city in Italy's far north-east.

Gattuso hopes that the ceasefire agreement brokered after two years of war -- which includes an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners that began on Monday -- will calm a tense atmosphere ahead of an important match for Italy's bid to qualify for a World Cup after missing the last two.

"It was a beautiful thing to see, we spoke about it with everyone in our hotel, who works in the football federation (FIGC). We were all very happy," Gattuso told reporters.

"I respect those who will be outside (the demonstrators)... but we're very happy that the war has been stopped."

The FIGC said that 8,000 tickets have been sold for the match at the Bluenergy Stadium which has a capacity of just over 25,000, with fans mostly staying away for a match deemed "high risk" by Italy's interior ministry.

Some 1,000 police officers, supported by helicopters and drones, will be deployed in Udine which was selected as the venue in order to limit the potential for disorder, just as with a Nations League match between Italy and Israel in September last year.

During massive strike action in support of the Palestinians earlier this month, demonstrators went to the Italian national team's training centre in Florence to demand the match be called off.

Appeals from Udine's mayor Alberto Felice De Toni that the fixture be postponed have also fallen on deaf ears.

'Focus on football'

Israel coach Ran Ben Shimon chose not to dwell on events back home, insisting that he and his team were focussing on football.

"We're with our people, and we're very moved," he told reporters.

"All we can do is focus 100 percent on football to make our people happy."

Gattuso will be without Moise Kean after the Fiorentina striker failed to recover from an ankle sprain suffered during Saturday's 3-1 win over Estonia.

Kean's absence is a blow for Italy as the 25-year-old has scored six times in his last four matches for his country, including the opener in the Group I match in Tallinn over the weekend.

"We knew that there was little chance of Moise recovering in time," said Gattuso.

"He ate with the rest of the team today and we gave him a round of applause for what he's given us over the last few days."

Italy-Israel qualifier expected to attract less people than nearby pro-Palestinian march

Israel’s World Cup qualifying match against Italy will still be played in a strange climate on Tuesday despite a breakthrough ceasefire deal that has paused two years of war in Gaza.

Security will be tight at the stadium in Udine and throughout the city.

A pro-Palestinian march is scheduled to start in the city center a few hours before kickoff and is expected to attract around 10,000 people. It is expected to be kept away from the stadium which is on the outskirts of the city.

The demonstration could feature more people than the match as just over 9,000 tickets have been sold for the qualifier at 25,000-seat Stadio Friuli. Even that represents a late flurry, with ticket sales having doubled over the past week.

Italy also played Israel a year ago in Udine, which was chosen because of the relative difficulty of reaching the city in north-east Italy, near the Slovenian border, and the ease of isolating the stadium, where road blocks will be set up all around.

There will also be helicopters flying throughout the day and a high police presence, ahead of a match that has been placed in the highest-risk category.

Ahead of Israel’s previous match in Norway, around 1,000 protesters walked to the stadium in Oslo.

Protesters approached the gates of Italy’s training center in Florence 10 days ago to demand that the Israel match not go ahead — part of a national strike in which millions of activists took to the streets.

UEFA considered suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni called for the game to be postponed.

Israel took it all in stride — winger Manor Solomon admitted "We are used to it” — but what could affect the players is the heightened emotions from what is happening back home.

After watching the news of the hostages returning home, Israel coach Ran Ben-Shimon said, “It’s a moment we’ll carry with us for all our lives.” They all hugged each other “as every mother hugs their sons.”

“There are moments that help and moments that don’t, because we think of things other than soccer during the game,” an emotional Solomon said through a translator. "But I think that everything that happened today in Israel should give more motivation to everyone.

“It's one of the happiest days of our lives. We prayed for two years for this moment. Last night was very hard for us to sleep because we wanted to wake up early to see the images of them coming home and everyone on the streets of Israel celebrating.”

Italy sit second in the five-team group, six points behind leaders Norway and three ahead of third-placed Israel with a game in hand on both.

A win in Udine will secure Italy at least second place and a spot in the play-offs, with only first place giving direct qualification for next year's finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

However Italy, who have three fixtures left to play, would need Norway to slip up against Estonia next month to have a realistic chance of finishing top, due to the 19-goal gap in goal difference between the two teams.

Italy host Norway in their final group fixture at the San Siro on November 16.