Overview

• Tens of thousands rallied nationwide, with more than 20,000 gathered at Rome’s Termini station, according to the prefecture.
• Violent confrontations erupted near Milan’s central station as protesters threw projectiles and police used tear gas, and police dispersed a highway blockade in Bologna with water cannons.
• Bus, metro and rail services were disrupted in major cities as dockworkers blocked port quays in Genoa and Livorno.
• The 24-hour general strike was called by the USB, CUB, USI-CIT and SGB unions to denounce the Gaza humanitarian emergency and to criticize EU and Italian policy.
• Italy has declined to join recent Western recognitions of a Palestinian state and reiterates it halted arms sales to Israel on Oct. 7, 2023; official tallies cite 1,219 Israeli deaths from Oct. 7, and Gaza’s health ministry reports 65,344 dead.