Overview

• Tens of thousands joined a nationwide day of action across 70–80 locations, with organizers and police reporting large turnouts in Milan, Rome, Bologna and other cities under the slogan “Let’s Block Everything.”
• Clashes broke out in Milan’s central station as some protesters hurled projectiles and smashed windows, prompting police to use tear gas, while water cannon dispersed motorway blockades in Bologna.
• Dockworkers in Genoa and Livorno blockaded port entrances, and Genoa stevedores threatened to stop container ships bound for Israel in support of the Global Sumud aid flotilla.
• Transport was widely disrupted as unions called a 24-hour strike that curtailed local buses and metro services, triggered national rail delays and cancellations, and affected schools and universities.
• The protests coincided with a new wave of Western recognitions of a Palestinian state at the UN, while Meloni’s government reiterated it will not recognize Palestine for now and said Italy has not sold arms to Israel since October 2023.