People take part in a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
People hold banners reading “stop genocide"as they participate at a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
People hold banners as they participate at a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Demonstrators chant slogans as they hold a giant Palestinian flad during a nationwide transport, port, and school strike to protest against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)
People hold a banner reading “genocide” as they participate at a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Thousands of Italian workers strike in solidarity with Gaza, causing disruptions across the country
ROME (AP) 鈥 Thousands of workers and students across Italy joined a general strike and widespread demonstrations on Monday in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
People take part in a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
ROME (AP) 鈥 Thousands of workers and students across Italy joined a general strike and widespread demonstrations on Monday in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Italy鈥檚 grassroots unions 鈥 which are active at a local level 鈥 called for the 24-hour general strike in both public and private sectors, including public transportation, trains, schools and ports.
The strike caused disruptions across the country, with long delays for national trains and limited public transport in major cities including Rome and Milan.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The transit of goods was slowed or partially blocked by workers鈥 sit-ins and rallies in Italy鈥檚 main ports of Genoa and Livorno. More than 20,000 people gathered in front of Rome鈥檚 central station to protest the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Unions and student organizations denounced 鈥渢he inertia of the Italian and EU governments.鈥
“If we don鈥檛 block what Israel is doing, if we don鈥檛 block trade, the distribution of weapons and everything else with Israel, we will not ever achieve anything,鈥 said Walter Montagnoli, national secretary of the CUB union, marching in Milan with protesters.
The Italian government headed by conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni, a close Israeli ally in the EU, has more recently adopted a harsher tone on Israeli policies as domestic pressure mounted over the war. Italy, however, is not among the countries, including France, that will formally recognize a Palestinian state at
The creation of a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza has long been seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict, which began more than a century before Hamas鈥 Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. In the attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. There are still 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of whom Israel believes 20 are still alive.
Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive over the past 23 months has killed in Gaza, according to Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry, destroyed vast areas of the strip, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The ministry is under the Hamas-run government. U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants.
