Amsterdam banned protests for three days from Friday while giving police emergency stop-and-search powers after overnight attacks on Israeli soccer fans, with the Tel Aviv government saying it would would bring many supporters home.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were “attacked, mistreated and bombarded with fireworks” by what she described as “anti-Semitic squads” and that anti-Semitic police -riot had to intervene several times to protect them and escort them to their destination. hotels.

Israel was sending commercial planes to the Netherlands on Friday to bring Israeli soccer fans home after nighttime attacks in Amsterdam that authorities described as anti-Semitic, although there was evidence of provocative chanting by Israeli fans.

Videos circulating on social media showed riot police intervening in street clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli insults.

Some footage also showed Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans ahead of Thursday night’s match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

Five people were treated in hospital and released, while around 20 to 30 people suffered minor injuries, police said. At least 62 suspects have been arrested, 10 of whom remain in custody, city prosecutor René de Beukelaer told reporters at a news conference on Friday.

While there were initial reports of missing Israeli fans, by mid-afternoon Friday, Amsterdam police said there were no missing people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the order to send planes came after “a very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens after the match between Maccabi and Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a club Jewish.

Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia have announced five flights to Amsterdam.

An eyewitness captured video verified by Reuters showing a group of men running near Amsterdam Central Station, chasing and attacking other men, as police sirens sounded.

However, another verified video showed Maccabi fans lighting flares and chanting “Ole, ole, may the IDF win,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces, followed by derogatory remarks directed at “Arabs.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told reporters on the sidelines of the summit of European Union leaders in Budapest that he was “ashamed of what happened in the Netherlands.” “It was a terrible night.”

Schoof assured Netanyahu by telephone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,” he said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.

No prior threat warning

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who he said “expressed deep horror and shock at the criminal acts committed.”

Politician Geert Wilders, head of the Dutch government’s largest party, said he was “ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands.”

In a vitriolic post on social media platform X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported.

Police said there were incidents before the match at the Johan Cruyff Arena, for which around 3,000 Maccabi fans traveled to Amsterdam.

A Palestinian flag was torn down from a building in Amsterdam on Wednesday, Dutch television channel NOS reported, and authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium.

Halsema told reporters on Friday that the Dutch counterterrorism watchdog said no concrete threats had been detected before the match against Israeli soccer fans. But then, she said, young people on scooters drove around the city looking for Israeli supporters, punching and kicking them, then quickly fleeing to escape the police.

They said fans left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but clashes broke out overnight in the city center.

Anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands have increased since Israel launched its attack on Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and letters hateful.

The war in Gaza has sparked demonstrations in support of both sides in Europe and the United States, notably in Amsterdam, where the opening of a new Holocaust museum by Herzog sparked violent protests by pro activists. -Palestinians.

More than 43,000 Palestinians were killed and another 102,000 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack, according to health officials in the enclave, after the Palestinian militant group killed some 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage. according to Israel.

Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said in a statement that “the incidents in Amsterdam confirm that the ongoing genocide in Gaza, broadcast live without international action to stop it and hold those responsible to account, can lead to such spontaneous reactions.