Fighter jets, a naval destroyer and guns on show: The ‘unprecedented’ security operation for Pope’s funeral
As the line of mourners moves slowly along behind him, Ciriaco Sarnelli peers at me from beneath the immaculate brim of his cap.
The military police chief looks, by any standards, magnificent – shoulders back and proudly wearing the black uniform of the Carabinieri.
“Our history goes back more than 200 years,” he says. “We remember our past, and our place. The only people with black uniforms are the priests, the judges and the Carabinieri.”
He leaves the rest unsaid – the Carabinieri sit at the heart of Italian cultural life.
Ciriaco Sarnelli, Carabinieri military police chief
Pope latest: Security ramping up ahead of funeral
Once, they defended the borders of a young nation. Now, they have a new challenge that has its own weighty burden – to keep St Peter’s Square safe during the funeral of Pope Francis.
This is no easy task. Hundreds of thousands will descend upon the Vatican for the event.
Many of the world’s best-known politicians and dignitaries will be welcomed into St Peter’s Basilica.
Inside will be Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron, Prince William and dozens upon dozens of other dignitaries.
Outside will be the Carabinieri.
They won’t be alone – there are thousands of other police officers due to be assigned to protect the event – but the Carabinieri are affiliated to the military; the most highly-trained officers on duty.
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A member of the security personnel wields an anti-drone gun for the Pope’s funeral
“This is an extraordinary operation,” says Sarnelli, as we look out over the crowd. “So we have employed some special units that belong to Carabinieri – the bomb squad, a dogs unit, snipers and helicopters. We want to assure the people who are arriving here that they can take part in this event in the best way, in a secure way.”
He says they are ready for “common crimes” – like pickpockets in the crowd – but also “the biggest, terrifying events”.
He says there is “excellent coordination” with police forces from other countries.
Around him, his officers are smiling, chatting to tourists and Romans alike.
The security here is overt but friendly, even if I’m told there are also plenty of plain-clothed officers mingling within the crowd.
Guns and grins both on show.
A police helicopter circles above. In the port of Rome, a naval destroyer has been primed for action; there are fighter jets ready to take off.
You can watch full coverage of the funeral live on Sky News on Saturday
Huge crowds have come from around the world to see the Pope’s body
If the impression is relaxed, the reality is different. The classic swan.
All the strands are pulled together from one place and, what’s more, it offers a perfect view of Vatican City.
From where I’m standing, I can see the front of St Peter’s Basilica, the side, and the roads around it. I can see the crowds coming in, and the crowds going out.
And I can see an anxious policeman drumming his fingers.
But we are not in St Peter’s and not even in the Vatican.
This is the high-security control room on the fifth floor of Rome’s police headquarters.
And from here, you can see everything.
The control room from where security officials can see across the Italian capital
An array of screens are in front of us and, watching them, men and women, huddled over screens and all wearing contrasting uniforms.
Some are military, some national police, some wear the clothes of firefighters. A few are in plain clothes and there is even a man wearing the badge of the prison officers’ service.
This centre is a hub for collaboration and decision-making and it brings together every service that is involved in ensuring the safety and security of the funeral.
There is a Carabinieri officer here, as well as the Guardia di Finanza national police and the Roman force. The government’s secret intelligence service is represented here, too.
Elisabetta Accardo is from Rome’s police department. We talk against the gentle hubbub in the control room, colleagues pointing at screens and agreeing plans.
Elisabetta Accardo, Rome Police control room spokeswoman
I ask when Italy last had to deal with a security operation on this scale, and she laughs. “Hundreds of years,” she says.
“It is unprecedented. The level of security is at the maximum.” She describes the plan as “structured three-dimensional security”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
It is a plan that has been long in the making, but which has been reshaped over the past few days to react to the whims of the Pope’s final wishes.
It is, after all, more than a century since a pope was buried outside the walls of the Vatican.
You get the impression that the people designing the security plan could rather have done without having to add an hour-long procession through Rome into the plan.
But so be it.
By Saturday night, it will be done. Rome can start to get back to normal; the foreign leaders will be on their way home.
And the Rome police will breathe just a little bit easier.
World
Number of dead in Gaza reaches 63,000, health ministry says – as Israel declares city a combat zone
More than 63,000 Palestinians have now reportedly been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza, a figure likely to rise after the IDF declared Gaza City a combat zone on Friday.
The number of people killed, reported by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, follows nearly 23 months of war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing ahead with his plan to militarily occupy the Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, with the goal of destroying Hamas and returning the remaining Israeli hostages.
A mourner during the funeral of Palestinians killed while trying to receive aid. Pic: Reuters
Israel on Friday claimed the city was a Hamas stronghold and alleged that a network of tunnels remains in use despite several previous large-scale raids on the area.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged Palestinians to flee south, calling evacuation of the city “inevitable”.
But the head of the Red Cross warned it would be impossible to keep people safe during such a mass evacuation.
Many people in Gaza City would not be able to follow evacuation orders because they are starving, sick or injured, Mirjana Spoljaric said.
Palestinians are being urged to flee Gaza City by the Israeli military. Pic: Reuters
International humanitarian law requires Israel to ensure civilians have access to shelter, safety and nutrition,
when evacuation orders are issued.
“These conditions cannot currently be met in Gaza. This makes any evacuation not only unfeasible but incomprehensible under the present circumstances,” Ms Spoljaric added.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced it had targeted Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, in a strike on Gaza City, according to Israeli media.
And Mr Netanyahu later said the body of hostage Idan Shtivi was retrieved from Gaza.
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A Palestinian child waits to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters
Four people were killed by Israeli gunfire on Saturday while trying to get aid in central Gaza, according to health officials at Awda hospital, where the bodies were brought.
Their deaths join the almost 1,900 people who the UN say have been killed while seeking food since 27 May, including more than 1,000 killed in the vicinity of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.
“Most of these killings appear to have been committed by the Israeli military,” a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Thameen Al-Kheetan said.
Israel has previously blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians at aid sites.
The conflict began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and about 250 people taken hostage.
Greta Thunberg has rejected accusations of antisemitism as she embarks on her second flotilla to Gaza.
The 22-year-old and other activists are setting sail on the largest flotilla to Gaza on Sunday, despite having been detained by Israeli forces and deported when they approached on a British-flagged yacht in June.
Israel later accused the group of activists of being antisemitic – an accusation Thunberg told Sky News’ Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins she rejects.
“It is not antisemitic to say that we should not be bombing people, that one should not be living in occupation, that everyone should have the right to live in freedom and dignity, no matter who you are,” she said.
Greta Thunberg is embarking on a flotilla to Gaza again
In June, Thunberg and others were detained by the IDF on board a ship to Gaza
Before the dozens of boats carrying aid embarks from Spain, the activists called on governments to pressure Israel to allow their flotilla through the naval blockade.
Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas took control of the coastal enclave in 2007 and has blocked numerous attempts to reach Gaza since, including a vessel in 2010 by its special forces in which at least nine Turkish activists were killed.
But Thunberg brushed concerns about the dangers of the trip aside, saying she was instead worried about the “silence of the world” in light of what is happening in Gaza.
“I’m terrified to see that we seem to have lost all the humanity that we have, and there seems to be no compassion left in the world amongst the vast majority of people who are able to sit on the couch and watch the genocide unfold that I am terrified for,” she added.
The new, bigger flotilla, will set off from Spain on Sunday
Greta Thunberg brushed concerns about the dangers of the trip aside
Israel has repeatedly denied claims of genocide and previously described the first ship, Madleen, as “the selfie yacht”, dismissing the aid ship as a propaganda stunt in support of Hamas.
In a statement to Sky News, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said: “The IDF enforces the security naval blockade on the Gaza Strip and is prepared for a wide range of scenarios, which it will act upon in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”
Thunberg said: “It’s important that by doing so, by continuing this blockade, Israel is violating international law. And what we are trying to do is to use our rights to sail on international waters and to deliver humanitarian aid, which Israel is not allowed to block from coming in.”
Greta Thunberg aboard the Madleen on 2 June. Pic: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/Reuters
The Madleen was intercepted before reaching Gaza
The naval blockade has remained in place through conflicts, including the current war, which began when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed almost 63,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, while part of the Strip is suffering from famine, according to a global hunger monitor – something Israel denies.
In March, Israel also sealed off Gaza by land, not letting in supplies for three months, claiming Hamas was diverting aid.
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters
Asked what would be her message to Hamas, which is still holding 48 hostages in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel still believes to be alive, Thunberg said she does “not stand behind killing civilians”.
“But we translate that into reality and we’re seeing how many hundreds of thousands of people are dying in Gaza now, how many hundreds of thousands of people have been deprived [of] their dignity and justice and freedom by Israel,” she added.
Sky News’ Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins interviewed Greta Thunberg in Spain
The IDF said in its statement: “Israel allows and facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, over two million tons of aid have been delivered to Gaza – approximately one ton of aid per person on average.
“The last few months 9,000 aid trucks have entered through land crossings, as publicly reported.
“In recent weeks, approximately 300 aid trucks have entered daily, primarily carrying food, medical supplies, hygiene products, and other essential items according to needs identified by international organisations and the UN. Israel does not impose quantitative limits on aid trucks entering Gaza.
“Several significant measures have been implemented to expand aid volume and facilitate collection by the UN and international organisations. Recent data on aid deliveries demonstrates Israel’s commitment to facilitating humanitarian assistance to Gaza.”
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Thunberg, who is among hundreds of people from 44 countries on the flotilla, hopes their mission will bring symbolic aid and help open up a humanitarian corridor to deliver more aid.
She said the activists’ goal is to send “hope and solidarity to the people of Gaza, showing a clear signal that the world has not forgotten about you”.
World
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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