Italian workers' strike in solidarity with Gaza brings disruptions across the country

ROME (AP) — Thousands of protesters and strikers calling for solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets in Italy on Monday, with some storming Milan’s central train station and clashing violently with police.

Italy’s grassroots unions, which represent hundreds of thousands of people ranging from schoolteachers to metalworkers, called for a 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.

In Milan, tensions escalated when dozens of protesters dressed in black and armed with batons tried to smash the main entrance of the city’s central train station, throwing smoke bombs, bottles and stones at police, who responded with pepper spray. In Bologna, police used water cannons to disperse a crowd of demonstrators who blocked a highway.

The transit of goods was slowed or partially blocked by workers’ sit-ins and rallies in Italy’s main ports of Genoa and Livorno. More than 20,000 people gathered in front of Rome’s central station to protest the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Unions and student organizations denounced “the inertia of the Italian and EU governments.”

“If we don’t block what Israel is doing, if we don’t block trade, the distribution of weapons and everything else with Israel, we will not ever achieve anything,” said Walter Montagnoli, national secretary of the CUB union, who joined a march in Milan.

Premier Giorgia Meloni condemned violent clashes sparked by some protesters as “shameful.”

“Violence and destruction have nothing to do with solidarity and won't change a thing in the lives of people in Gaza,” she wrote on X.

The conservative government headed by 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 this week’s U.N. General Assembly.

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’ 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’s retaliatory offensive over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,100 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s 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.

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.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "genocide" in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, during a nation-wide protest and general strike against the war in Gaza. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

Protesters enter Central Station during clashes with police after the strike march in support of Palestine, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (Marco Ottico/Lapresse via AP)

People hold giant Palestinian flag as they participate at a demonstration part of a nation-wide protest and general strike against the killings in Gaza, in Rome, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

People 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 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)

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 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)

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 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)

MIAMI (AP) — Anfernee Simons scored 18 of his season-high 39 points in the fourth quarter, Jaylen Brown added 27 and the Boston Celtics trailed most of the way before rallying to beat the Miami Heat 119-114 on Thursday night.

Sam Hauser added 17 points for the Celtics, who outscored Miami 36-21 in the fourth quarter and won after facing as much as a 19-point deficit. It was their second-biggest comeback win of the season, after coming from 20 down to beat Indiana on Dec. 22.

Simons had the second highest-scoring game for a reserve this season — Utah's Brice Sensabaugh had 43 on Wednesday night in a loss to Chicago — and became the fourth Celtics player in the last 50 years to score at least 39 off the bench. The others: Larry Bird, Todd Day and Payton Pritchard.

Norman Powell scored 26 points for Miami, which got 22 points apiece from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Andrew Wiggins added 16 for the Heat.

Simons had 11 consecutive Boston points in the fourth quarter to chip away at what was left of the Miami edge, and then Hauser got an open 3-pointer with 5:21 left to give the Celtics their first lead since the opening minute of the game.

The lead changed hands twice more, before Brown's 3-pointer with 4:05 remaining put Boston on top for good.

Miami started the game on a 28-9 run, putting the Celtics in a most unusual early position.

That 19-point margin — only about seven minutes into the game — matched the biggest first-quarter deficit the Celtics faced in a 304-game span since trailing Indiana by 20 early on in a game on Dec. 21, 2022. Boston also trailed Milwaukee by 19 in the first quarter on April 9, 2024.

The Heat played without starting point guard Davion Mitchell (left shoulder contusion) and sixth man Jaime Jaquez Jr. (left knee soreness).

Celtics: At Atlanta on Saturday night.

Heat: Host Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons, center, is defended by Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) comes under pressure from Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) goes for the basket defended by Miami Heat center Kel'el Ware, obscured, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami Heat guard Norman Powell (24) reacts after making a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra watches from courtside during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)