First strike and aftermath During the 22 September strike, violent clashes broke out between protesters and police forces, most notably in
Milan, where the former smashed a window at the
Centrale railway station and threw
smoke bombs, bottles and stones, and the latter beat and fired
tear gas and
pepper spray at them. A protest at a highway in
Bologna was dispersed by water cannon and smoke bombs, with at least eight arrests, and other protesters blocked the entrance to the ports. The attacks had caused protests in many places of Italy. The very first reaction was from CGIL, which announced an immediate protest in in Rome (where the
Chamber of Deputies is located). Another protest in Rome, protesting armament sale to Israel and involving action in front of a
Rheinmetall factory, continued even after the arrival of law enforcement, with some individuals chaining themselves to the entrance of the building. Student movements in Rome also occupied various universities and schools, protesting the attack on the Flotilla; students at Sapienza University announced a permanent occupation of the faculty until agreements with Israeli universities are suspended, following the example of other Italian institutions. In Turin, at least over two thousand people reunited in , making its way to the
Torino Porta Susa railway station; after reaching the station, some of the protesters entered the trains where they shouted and hanged various slogans and posters, In
Florence, students organized a protest which started in and ended in front of the local
U.S. consulate. Meanwhile, at the
port of Livorno and the
port of Taranto, protests prevented Israeli ships from docking. In Milan, a protest sponsored by CUB started in before going towards , with protesters chanting "". In Bologna, the and its surrounding areas were occupied by a protest which counted thousands of people with many of them asking for Israeli exclusion from the ; the University of Bologna was also occupied. Protests also took place in
Osnago,
Cuneo and
Verona. On September 25, protests continued, including one in
Macerata in which the group "Saturdays for Palestine" protested in , one in
Spoleto and one in
Chieti. CGIL Catania also protested in with a partial strike and demonstration. USB announced that on 26 September a new general strike, with the same goals as the last one, was going to be held due to the renewed Israeli attacks of 24 September. Starting from that day, USB, along with Global Movement for Gaza and Palestinian associations in Italy, set up a permanent mobilization across squares and public spaces in the country, named and beginning in in Rome. Organizers vowed to escalate the pressure on the government on the next national demonstration, to be held in Rome on 4 October. In the late hours of 27 September, dockworkers at the
port of Genoa blocked a weapons cargo from being loaded on the Israel-bound
Zim New Zealand vessel, forcing it to leave empty; this followed a day of public demonstrations organized by (CALP), Music For Peace, USB, CGIL, UIL, student unions and the local Catholic clergy, and led by the mayor of the city
Silvia Salis and the president of
Liguria Marco Bucci; it also saw the continued occupation of the
University of Genoa In the following days, dockworkers in Livorno refused to work for another Zim vessel, the
Virginia, while a protest in Taranto blocked an
Eni oil cargo to Israel, the
Seasalvia, for several hours before it was able to depart.
Second strike and aftermath October CGIL and USB threatened another strike in the event of an Israeli attack on the Sumud Flotilla; this was confirmed by both trade unions on 1 October, when Israel started boarding GSF ships, with general strikes proclaimed for October 3 in conjunction with an alteady planned railway strike. CGIL secretary
Maurizio Landini called the Israeli interception "an act of war", while
Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini stated that the government "would not tolerate" a second strike. In the hours following the attack and all through the next day, spontaneous protests and mobilizations erupted in
the main cities of the country, namely Rome (
university, , Termini station and facing ), Milan (
university,
Cadorna station and ), Naples (
Federico II University,
L'Orientale University and station), Turin (
university and
Porta Nuova station), Bologna (university and ), Palermo (), Florence ( and
Santa Maria Novella station), Genoa (university and port), Livorno (port), Pisa (
university,
Centrale station and ), Bari (
university and the municipality itself, led by
Vito Leccese),
Siena () and others, with student collectives setting up permanent occupations in their faculties and schools. The
San Marino Confederation of Labour supported the general strikes openly and supported those willing to protest. On the day of the strike, which was shorter than the previous one but was equally joined by hundreds of thousands of citizens, there were delays and cancellations in railway transport, and several highways and ports were blocked by protesters. with heavy clashes with the police erupting towards the end; cars were set ablaze by some protesters and several people were injured. On the same day, militants associated with
CasaPound were spotted in
Esquilino attacking pro-Palestinian protesters, despite the organization's
opposition to Israel and pro-Palestinian stance and activism up until then. On 5 October, in San Marino, a huge
fundraising protest managed to gather funds for the
San Marino for Gaza project, organized with the help of the NGOs EducAid and Marciamela Association at the end of August. On 12 October 2025, a Pro-Palestinian protest in Trieste tried to disturb the
Barcolana. On 13 October 2025, pro-Palestinian students occupied the Vincenzo Arangio Ruiz Technical Institute. The day after a video from the occupied institute, showing the students performing the
Roman salute and shouting "
Dux! Dux! Dux!" caused controversy. On the same day the Isaac Newton High School was also occupied in Rome. A protest was also held in
Udine on 14 October, in conjunction with
an Italy vs Israel qualification match for the
2026 FIFA World Cup at the , as part of the "
Show Israel the Red Card" campaign. It was reported that the Ministry of Interior would coordinate
Mossad and the Italian police to escort the Israeli team throughout its stay, with additional forces deployed to keep protesters outside the stadium; although the reports were dismissed by the ministry's Department of Security, parts of city around the stadium and the hotel were shut down, with sightings of drones, helicopters and snipers ahead of the match. Clashes erupted when protesters tried to break through the police belt, and were dispersed with water cannons; between 5,000 and 10,000 participants were reported. On the same day, in San Marino, the (San Marino Collective for Palestine) stated that the cease‑fire in Gaza must mark the beginning of Palestinian self‑determination, end the occupation, free the hostages, allow humanitarian aid, and ensure international justice, and that up until those goals were not met they would continue to protest, mobilize and organize, like their Italian counterparts. On 15 October, the Montessori High School was occupied by pro-Palestinian students in Rome. On 23 October 2025, the Agrario and Alberti high schools in Florence were occupied, whilst two new educational institutes were also occupied in Naples resulting in one of the school's principals, the one in charge of the Mazzini High School, to call law enforcement, asking for the students to be kicked out. On 24 October, a protest consisting of at least 400 people took place at the in Rome, which was supposed to be static. However, despite attempts at diplomacy between the participants and law enforcement, the protest tried to reach another area; this prompted the police to use hydrants and a major scuffle occurred, resulting in 41 law enforcement officers being injured and 12 people being arrested. The students' intention to occupy the Giordano-Striano
technical institute was called off when the principal of the school locked herself in the principal room for over 48 hours. The school took a stand with a statement referring to "danger to the safety of the boys and girls inside the school", but also to "a serious act against democracy and the right to education". The same happened at the Aristofane
language and
classical high school in
Tufello: after a meeting convened on Sunday, the students joined the protest "in defense of the Palestinian people and against the genocide taking place." On the evening of November 3, a group of young
neo-fascists attacked the Righi high school, occupied by pro-Palestinian students on October 23, shouting "Duce, duce". The occupiers repelled the attackers, and an intense bottle-throwing battle began in the street. One girl was injured in the neck. The authorities searched the houses of three of the raiders and linked them to the far-right organization (Students Fight). On 7 November 2025, in the middle of the day, a group of raiders attacked the Santa Beatrice primary/secondary school in , Rome; The raiders threw a
cherry bomb, drew swastikas and other far-right symbols on the walls, and heavily damaged the school's intercom. The school stated that this was the second incident of this caliber, as they had already been attacked on 31 October. The school seems to have shown support for Pro-Palestinian strikes as early as 29 October 2025. On the same day, later that night, over 400 students of the Righi high school held a protest in which multiple of them were seen chanting the slogan "". At the same time, a portion of the quarter of Tufello spontaneously mobilized to protect the occupied school from any raiders. On 10 November, the Giordano Bruno and Pacinotti-Archimede high schools, in Rome's
Municipality III, were occupied. On the same day, a pro-Palestinian protest took place in the city of
Ivrea. On 14 November, in Milan, Bologna, Rome and Naples, there were a series of protests dubbed "No Meloni Day". These protests tackled a series of topics, such as
environmentalism,
European rearmament, the conditions of Italian schools and the Palestinian genocide. The protests were organized by (Union of Students), (Alternative Student Opposition),
Fridays for Future,
Network of Communists and other groups. 300–400 in Bologna and a few hundred were present in Naples. On 29 November, following a general strike on the previous day, pro-Palestinian protests were held across the country, with over 20,000 demonstrators in Rome, including Greta Thunberg,
Thiago Ávila and
Francesca Albanese (
UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories). Protesters denounced the complicity of the Italian government media with Israel, and some protesters broke into the headquarters of in Turin. == Reactions ==