Israel's ambassador to Italy Jonathan Peled condemned the erasure of a mural commemorating the October 7 Hamas massacre in Milan, calling it “an extremely serious act that reveals the disturbing face of antisemitism,” in a Monday post on X/Twitter.
“Three years after the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas, the erasure of the mural dedicated to the victims of October 7 in Milan is an extremely serious act that reveals the disturbing face of antisemitism and an attempt to rewrite the memory of that tragedy,” Peled wrote.
He added, “Remembering the victims is a duty that cannot be silenced.”
The mural, created by artist aleXsandro Palombo to mark the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, was painted over less than a month after it was displayed.
Located near Milan's Gallery of Modern Art, the artwork depicted the abduction and forced separation of Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or from the Nova music festival.
According to Jewish community news outlets in Rome and Milan, the entire wall was repainted white, completely covering the mural.
Previous vandalism targeted Palombo's murals
The incident follows several previous acts of vandalism targeting Palombo's artwork commemorating victims of the October 7 massacre and the Holocaust.
In October 2025, a mural depicting Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, was defaced during a memorial event at Milan's central synagogue, when a poster reading “NO WAR” was placed over Bibas's face.
Earlier, in May 2025, Palombo's Holocaust mural at the Shoah Memorial in Milan, titled The Jewish Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz, was also vandalized. The artwork, depicting the cartoon family as prisoners deported to Auschwitz, had much of its paint stripped away, with “Free Pal” written in red across the remaining image.
Palombo described the vandalism at the time as an act of “antisemitic fury”.
In November 2024, another of Palombo's murals, depicting Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre and Sami Modiano, was vandalized, with both survivors' faces erased.