Overview

• Tens of thousands marched across cities including Rome, Turin, Florence, Naples, Bari and Palermo, with more than 20,000 gathered at Rome’s Termini station, according to the prefecture.
• Left-leaning unions USB, CUB, USI-CIT and SGB called a general strike that disrupted buses and metro in Rome and targeted infrastructure with blockades.
• Dockworkers blocked quays in Genoa and Livorno, and protesters halted traffic on a Bologna highway before police used water cannon to clear the road.
• In Milan, protesters threw objects and briefly entered the central station before police pushed them out with tear gas during the most violent confrontations of the day.
• The mobilization coincided with moves by France and other governments to recognize Palestine, as Italy maintained a cautious stance and cited its existing halt to arms sales to Israel since October 7, 2023, against a backdrop of heavy casualties reported by both sides.