Clashes broke out on Monday after thousands of Italians took to the streets in towns and cities across their country in a day of solidarity with Palestinians co-ordinated by trade unions.

Milan and Rome saw the biggest crowds and tensions spilled over around the central station in Milan where some 60 police were reported hurt.

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has come under fire from political opponents for her position on Gaza, condemned the scenes in Milan as shameful.

Although she has become increasingly critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Meloni has not gone as far as France in deciding to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

President Emmanuel Macron described his country’s decision later on Monday as a “necessity”.

Coming hard on the heels of a decision by the UK, Canada and Australia, Macron said his move would be the “beginning of a political process and a peace and security plan for everybody”.

Paris says it is backed by countries including Belgium, Malta and Luxembourg, however two of the other big European powers in the G7, Italy and Germany, have not followed suit.

Israel has denounced Macron’s move as a reward for Hamas, and its UN ambassador has called Monday’s event a circus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no Palestinian state to the west of the River Jordan, and President Isaac Herzog said recognising one would only “embolden the forces of darkness”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was adamant that his country’s move was a “categorical rejection” of Hamas and he spoke of Macron’s declaration as a “great diplomatic victory for our country”.

Read more: UK says Israel must not retaliate against statehood push

A number of other European countries have already recognised a Palestinian state, including Spain and Norway last year.

Giorgia Meloni’s government said recently it could be “counter-productive” to recognise a state that did not exist. However, she has infuriated political opponents on the left by not explaining her position on Israel in parliament.

While the UK, Canada and Australia were announcing their recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday, Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein complained that the prime minister was giving a tame interview on national Rai TV about her favourite meal with her grandparents.

Monday’s strike action brought together teachers, dockworkers and students in up to 80 towns and cities around the country.

There was widespread disruption to public transport as well as the big ports at Livorno and Genoa, a key metro line in Milan was shut down, and university students in Turin and Bologna blocked access to lecture halls.

Further protests took place in Florence, Bari and Palermo in Sicily, with strikers bearing slogans that read “Free Palestine” and “Let’s block everything”.

Some of the biggest crowds were reported near the big rail hubs in Milan and Rome, with at least 20,000 protesters turning out at Termini station in the capital.

Clashes erupted outside Milan central station after protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza and burned a US flag. As protesters tried to move into the station, a fringe group of black-clad protesters began throwing stones, smoke bombs and metal girders at police.

In Bologna the main ring road was blocked and police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the vandalism was unjustifiable “and certainly does not help the cause of Gaza”.

Senior ministers expressed outrage at the attacks on police. Giorgia Meloni said it was “violence and destruction that have nothing to do with solidarity and that will not change a single thing in the lives of people in Gaza, but will have concrete consequences for Italian citizens”.

Ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s announcement, the Palestinian and Israeli flags were displayed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday night. A number of town halls in France also flew Palestinian flags on Monday, despite a government order to local prefects to maintain neutrality.

Macron’s high-profile move to recognise a Palestinian state later on Monday at the United Nations met with criticism from some of his political opponents.

Jordan Bardella, of the far-right National Rally, said it was a “mistake, while Hamas still holds Israeli hostages”, and he pointed out that it amounted to “rewarding the atrocities committed on 7 October [2023], during the deadliest attack ever known by the state of Israel”.

European Union officials have toughened their language against Israel in recent weeks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for an end last week to “the horrific events taking place in Gaza on a daily basis”.

Although Germany is one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe, its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has become increasingly critical of Israel’s military response in Gaza.

However, the government says Palestinian statehood is not currently up for debate, and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul explained as he left for New York on Monday that “for Germany, recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of the process. But this process must begin now”.