Grassroots unions across Italy called for a 24-hour general strike on Monday in solidarity with the people of Gaza, citing reasons that included the “inertia of the Italian and EU governments” to address the humanitarian crisis in the territory.

From Milan to Palermo, Italians poured on to the streets in at least 75 municipalities across the country. In Genoa and Livorno, dock workers blocked ports over concerns that Italy was being used as a staging post for the transfer of arms to Israel.

In Rome, more than 20,000 people gathered outside the Termini train station waving Palestinian flags and chanting “free Palestine”. Michelangelo, 17, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) he had turned up to support “a population that is being exterminated”.