More than 2 million people across Italy rallied in over 100 cities on Friday for a one-day general strike over Israel’s detention of activists from the Gaza flotilla and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s perceived cautious stance on the conflict, Italy’s largest union said.
Hundreds of thousands of people protested across the country during the large-scale strike, blocking roads in many cities.
The Italian demonstrators condemned Rome’s criticism of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which Israel has claimed is linked to Hamas.
The Israeli Navy intercepted the flotilla on Wednesday and Thursday after organizers rejected the calls to transfer the small amount of aid they had been carrying with them to Israel or international organizations to be taken to the Strip and distributed to civilians.
Many of the Italian protesters also demanded more from Meloni, who has faced criticism for not speaking out more strongly on the situation in Gaza or recognizing the Palestinian state alongside a number of other European nations earlier this month.
Those participating in the Italian strike did not appear to be calling for Hamas to accept the Gaza peace plan, presented earlier this week by US President Donald Trump and agreed to by Israel. The proposed plan would bring an end to the almost two-year war sparked by the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The CGIL, one of two unions to call the strike, said over two million people across Italy had taken to the streets in over 100 demonstrations.
CGIL head Maurizio Landini noted “the extraordinary and unprecedented participation of young people, who are calling for a future of peace.”
Up and down the country, from Turin and Trento in the north to Bari and Palermo in the south, people gathered for marches and flashmobs, blocking highways or train tracks.
The strike saw trains canceled or delayed, some schools closed, and even some prisoners downing tools.
In Florence, protesters approached the gates of the Italian national soccer team’s training center to demand its upcoming World Cup qualifier against Israel not be played because of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Italy is scheduled to host Israel in Udine on Oct. 14., but UEFA is considering suspending Israel over the war.
Protesters rallied on the opposite side of the street from the soccer complex, holding aloft an anti-Israel banner that read in Italian, “Let’s stop Zionism with the resistance.”
At least 80,000 people marched in Rome, according to police. Organizers put the number at 300,000.
Over 80,000 people demonstrated in Milan, police told AFP, with a sea of people clapping and waving the Palestinian flag as they made their way through the streets, carrying a massive banner reading: “Free Palestine, Stop the War Machine.”
Clashes there briefly erupted after a group of protesters blocking the city’s highway started throwing bottles at police, who responded with smoke bombs.
Organizers claimed 50,000 people were marching in Turin and 40,000 in Genoa, while 10,000 protesters were blocking the port of Naples.
Isolated scuffles also happened in Turin, Bologna and Naples but the majority of the protests were peaceful.
Commercial traffic was blocked at the port of Livorno, local media reported, and images in Bologna showed protesters marching down a section of the motorway that circles the city, a key artery between the country’s south and the northeast.
Protesters in Pisa broke into the runway area of the airport and forced its closure for a short period, delaying some flights.
Italy’s foreign ministry announced that Israel had released four Italian parliamentarians out of the 40 Italians detained from the flotilla.
The two members of parliament and two members of the European Parliament were due to arrive back in Rome on Friday, the ministry said.
“The flotilla was trying to do what European governments and the European Union should be doing, namely, breaking this blockade of humanitarian aid that is causing a real famine in Gaza,” said Elly Schlein, head of the Democratic Party (PD), the main opposition party.
“We call for a total arms embargo, as voted for by Spain. We call for full recognition of the State of Palestine,” she told AFP.
Meloni had called the flotilla a “dangerous, irresponsible” initiative, even though Italy sent a navy frigate to provide assistance.
“I still believe that all this brings no benefit to the Palestinian people. On the other hand, I understand that it will cause a lot of problems for the Italian people,” Meloni told reporters Thursday, condemning the strike. “Revolutions and long weekends don’t go well together.”
Meloni’s reluctance to overtly criticize Israel and her unwillingness to break ranks with Trump have spurred a wave of protests in recent weeks.
Italy’s strike watchdog has called Friday’s action illegal on the grounds that unions did not give the required 10 days’ notice.
It “is not just any strike, it has a huge emotional impact and must be handled with care,” the head of the Strike Guarantee Commission, Paola Bellocchi, told Corriere della Sera daily.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since the Hamas terror group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup.
Israel said it was necessary to limit Hamas’s ability to smuggle in arms. Critics of the blockade said it amounted to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.