Thousands of workers and students across Italy have joined a general strike and staged rallies in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

A number of grassroots unions called for a 24-hour strike on Monday, which affected transportation, schools and ports, among other infrastructure.

More than 20,000 people attended a pro-Palestinian protest in front of Rome's central Termini railway station, while demonstrators in Bologna blocked traffic on a motorway.

Dock workers went on strike in the ports of Genoa, Livorno, Trieste and Venice, where police used a water cannon to break up protesters.

"The Palestinian people continue to give us yet another lesson in dignity and resistance," Ricky, a protester in Genoa from a group called the Autonomous Dockworkers' Collective, told the Reuters news agency.

"We learn from them and try to do our part," he said.

Meloni denounces clashes with police in Milan

In Milan, protesters clashed with police at the city's central station.

At least 10 people were arrested, and about 60 police officers suffered bruising or more serious injuries, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the clashes between protesters and police in Milan.

"(This was) violence and destruction that have nothing to do with solidarity and will not change the lives of people in Gaza by a fraction, but will have concrete consequences for Italian citizens who will end up suffering and paying for the damage caused by these hooligans," she said on social media.

Edited by: Karl Sexton