Two major Italian unions have declared a nationwide strike following illegal Israeli interceptions of the Global Sumud Flotilla, as protests erupted across the country on Wednesday night.

One of Italy’s largest unions, Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL), along with the grassroots Unione Sindicale di Base (USB), had previously pledged to halt work and “block everything” in the event of an attack on the flotilla.

Late on Wednesday, the Israeli navy began illegally intercepting flotilla vessels as they neared Gaza, detaining activists and taking them to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

According to Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, 40 Italian nationals have been detained, including two Italian members of parliament and two Italian members of the European parliament.

“Obviously we will do everything we can to ensure these people can return to Italy as soon as possible,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters at a European Union meeting in Denmark.

But she added: “I continue to believe that all this brings no benefit to the Palestinian people.”

In a statement on X, USB announced “now is the time to block everything”, calling for mobilisations in “all squares” on Friday.

“The aggression against civilian ships carrying Italian citizens is an extremely serious matter,” CGIL said in a statement.

“It is not only a crime against defenceless people, but it is also serious that the Italian government has abandoned Italian workers in open international waters, violating our constitutional principles.”

Francesco Staccioli, of USB’s confederal executive, told Middle East Eye that unlike a previous strike in solidarity with the flotilla on 22 September, Friday’s work stoppage would go ahead without respecting the minimum notice period of 10 days, which is required under Italian law.

“We didn’t respect the notice period as this is too urgent,” Staccioli said, adding that CGIL’s decision to follow suit is unprecedented.

Following Israel’s interception, protests flared across Italian cities. In Naples, protesters burst into the main railway station and blocked the tracks, wielding flares and Palestinian flags.

In the capital, Rome, around 100,000 people marched towards Termini train station, which police had cordoned off. In Bologna, footage showed students clashing with police outside the university.

The flotilla was the trigger

Friday’s work stoppage follows a previous general strike in support of the flotilla on 22 September, in response to a series of Israeli drone strikes targeting the boats.

Some half a million people took to the streets across 75 cities. Schools were closed and roads and ports blockaded under the slogan “Blocchiamo tutto” (“We will block everything”).

But the spark was lit earlier in Genoa, one of Europe’s busiest ports, where dockworkers vowed to block all Israeli shipments in the event of an attack on the flotilla.

At the end of July, Genoa’s Autonomous Port Workers’ Collective (CALP), along with other trade unions and local community groups, amassed 300 tonnes of aid. On 30 August, a crowd of some 40,000 people joined a procession carrying the aid to vessels bound for Gaza.

In a speech that went viral on social media, CALP member Riccardo Rudino addressed crowds  in front of the port gates, pledging to “shut down all of Europe” if contact with the boats was lost.

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