AMSTERDAM– Amsterdam banned protests for three days after Israeli football fans beaten and injured in violent clashes in the city overnight, which Dutch authorities condemned on Friday as anti-Semitic.

Dutch police announced that they have opened a major investigation into several incidents that occurred Thursday evening during the Europa League football match between Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch Ajax.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said criminals on scooters had searched the city for Maccabi fans in “hit-and-run” attacks. “This is a terrible time for our city…I am truly ashamed of the behavior that was exhibited last night,” she said at a news conference Friday.

Authorities in Amsterdam said Friday morning that five injured Israeli soccer fans had since been released from hospital and that another 20 to 30 people were lightly injured. A total of 63 people were arrested and 10 remain in custody, police said.

Amsterdam has implemented several additional security measures following Thursday’s unrest. A ban on protests in the city was implemented Friday and will be in effect for three days until Sunday, according to Halsema. The police presence will also be reinforced.

The mayor also announced a ban on “wearing clothing covering the face” and “carrying objects” that could cause disturbances to public order.

The mayor added that she wanted the city to be safe for Israeli soccer fans, safe for residents and “especially safe for our Jewish residents.”

Tensions had risen in the run-up to Thursday night’s match with numerous videos on social media showing Maccabi fans chanting anti-Arab insults, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza and shouting “f**k the Arabs.” . Other videos apparently filmed in Amsterdam show men tearing down Palestinian flags from buildings. It is not known when these videos were filmed.

After the match, hundreds of Maccabi fans “were ambushed and attacked,” the Israeli embassy in the United States said on the social network X, sharing a video of the violence.

One video shows a man being kicked while lying on the ground, while another video shows a man being punched by a man shouting “Free Palestine” and “For the children, motherfucker.” CNN has not yet been able to verify these videos.

Another video shows a man shouting “I’m not Jewish” as he is chased down the street, thrown to the ground and beaten.

Police said the atmosphere in the stadium was relatively calm and fans left without incident after Ajax’s 5-0 victory, but during the night various clashes were reported in the city center .

The mayor added: “There can be tensions, there are many demonstrations and protests and we are always prepared for them, and of course they are linked to the situation in the Middle East and the ongoing war. But What happened last night was not a protest…. It was a crime.

“There is no excuse for the anti-Semitic behavior demonstrated last night by rioters who actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them,” local Amsterdam authorities said on Friday, adding that police intervened at several times to protect supporters and escort them to hotels.

Police earlier said they had increased their presence in the city center on Wednesday evening, citing “tensions” in several areas on the eve of the match.

The agents “prevented a clash on Wednesday between a group of taxi drivers and a group of visitors from the nearby casino,” police said in a statement on been snatched in the center of Amsterdam. by unknown authors.

Pro-Palestinian protesters attempted to reach the Johan Cruyff Stadium on Thursday, despite the city banning them from demonstrating there, Reuters reported.

Kobi Elyahu, an Israeli soccer fan returning to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport Friday evening, called the attacks on Israelis “very scary” and “like the 1940s.” He described seeing people lock themselves in hotels to escape, people throwing water and others “driving” and “stepping on” the victims.

Most of the supporters were subdued upon their arrival in Tel Aviv. “It’s not a pleasant experience, it’s a bad experience,” one man said. “We are going to Amsterdam for a vacation and a match. We never think it will be this situation.” Some supporters came to greet the returnees by chanting racist football-related chants: “Let the IDF win, we’re going to fuck the Arabs. Ole, ole, ole. In Gaza, there are no schools, there are no there are more children there.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the attacks as “terrible” and “horrible” when speaking to reporters on Friday.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

“There are always problems around football matches, and football matches involving the Israeli team also receive special attention from the police, but the things that happened last night are just terrible, horrible,” he said, before adding that he was “completely ashamed.” that this had happened in the Netherlands.

“This is completely unacceptable. I am in close contact with all parties involved and have just spoken by telephone with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to emphasize that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,” he said. he declared, adding: “The situation in Amsterdam has now become calm again.”

Netanyahu received a briefing from the country’s Foreign Ministry on Friday regarding efforts to remove Israeli citizens from Amsterdam. During the meeting, Netanyahu compared anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans to Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” when the Nazi regime attacked businesses, synagogues and homes owned by Jews throughout Germany in 1938.

“Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht – an attack on all Jews on European soil. It’s back now – yesterday we celebrated it in the streets of Amsterdam. This is what happened. There is only one difference – in the meantime, the Jewish state was created. according to a government press release.

In a separate statement from his office, Netanyahu urged Dutch authorities to “act firmly and quickly against the rioters and guarantee the peace of our citizens.” Israel also organized evacuation flights on commercial aircraft for some Israeli citizens.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited the Netherlands following the attacks, which he called “barbaric and anti-Semitic” and called a “resounding cry of alarm for Europe and the world.

After a meeting with senior Dutch officials on Friday, Sa’ar stressed that Israel expected criminal charges against the perpetrators of Thursday’s acts. “We expect arrests, we expect severe sanctions,” Sa’ar said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by the violence in Amsterdam, adding that he condemned all forms of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bigotry, the UN spokesperson said , Stéphanie Tremblay, during a press briefing Friday.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement Friday that it “condemns anti-Arab chants by Israelis and attacks on the symbolism of the Palestinian flag in Amsterdam,” and also called on the Dutch government to “protect Palestinians and the Arabs in the Netherlands.”

The Palestinian Football Federation also issued a statement saying it was “gravely concerned by the sequence of violent events in Amsterdam”, accusing Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters of “incitement to violence, anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia “.

Israel’s National Security Council urged citizens to avoid Maccabi Tel Aviv’s affiliated basketball team’s Friday night game against Italy’s Virtus Bologna.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry is currently reviewing the security of Israelis living abroad and all future Israeli team sporting events in Europe, including strengthening cooperation with local authorities, an Israeli official told CNN.

Following the Amsterdam incident, some people in France have called for next week’s match between the French and Israeli national soccer teams to be moved.

CNN’s Matthew Chance, Kareem Khadder, Niamh Kennedy and Lauren Izso contributed to this report.

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