AMSTERDAM — Youths on scooters attacked Israeli fans in hit-and-runs in the night after a soccer match in Amsterdam, apparently fueled by calls to target Jews posted on social media, Dutch authorities announced Friday. Five people were treated in hospitals and dozens were arrested.

Tensions have been rising in the Dutch capital since Israel’s campaigns in Gaza And Lebanoneven before the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday evening. Amsterdam authorities banned a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium, and video showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans en route to the match.

Then, youths on scooters crisscrossed the city looking for Israeli supporters, punching and kicking them, then quickly fleeing to escape police, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said.

In Telegram groups, she added, “we talk about people going on a Jewish hunt. It’s so shocking and so despicable that I still can’t imagine it. »

Police had to escort some supporters back to hotels, according to authorities.

Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from the Israeli town of Petah Tikva, said someone – he did not see who – threw a rock at him as he and a friend were leaving the stadium. He was hit in the head, causing slight bleeding. He said a group of Arab men began chasing him, before he and his friend got into a taxi to pick up other fans. They took refuge in a hotel.

“I’m very scared, it’s very striking. This shouldn’t happen to anyone, especially in Amsterdam. Many friends were injured, kidnapped, robbed, and the police did not come to help us,” he said.

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.

With condemnation of the violence as an anti-Semitic influx from across Europe, the attacks shattered Amsterdam’s long-cherished vision of itself as a beacon of tolerance and a refuge for persecuted religions, including Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain.

Halsema called the violence “an eruption of anti-Semitism that we hoped to never see again in Amsterdam.”

Police said security would be increased at Jewish institutions in the city which has a large Jewish community and was home to Jewish World War II chronicler Anne Frank and her family while they hid from Nazi occupiers.

The violence reverberated intensely in Israel and throughout Europe. Israel’s foreign minister left on an urgent trip to the Netherlands and the government initially ordered two planes to be sent to the Dutch capital to bring fans home. The Prime Minister’s Office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that “the harsh images of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be ignored” and that Netanyahu “views this horrific incident with the utmost seriousness.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “strong and rapid action” against those involved.

The extent of Thursday evening’s attacks, nor where or when they took place, was not clear. Tensions had been brewing for days.

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.

Before the match, large crowds of supporters of the Israeli team could be seen on video chanting anti-Arab slogans as they marched towards the stadium, escorted by police.

“Let the IDF win and (expletive) the Arabs,” supporters chanted, using the acronym for the Israeli army, as they clenched their fists. It also shows police pushing several pro-Palestinian protesters away from a gathering of Maccabi supporters in a square earlier in the day.

De Beukelaer said police were investigating “to what extent an organization is behind” the attacks on Israeli fans, adding: “I have too few indications at the moment.”

Security concerns over staging matches against visiting Israeli teams led the Belgian football federation to refuse to stage a men’s Nations League match in September. This match against Israel was played in Hungary, without fans in the stadium.

The violence in Amsterdam will undoubtedly lead to a review of security at future matches involving Israeli teams. UEFA, the European football body, already announced on Monday that Maccabi’s next match in the Europa League, scheduled in Istanbul on November 28 against the Turkish team Besiktas, would be moved to a neutral venue, yet to be determined, “following a decision by the Turkish authorities”. »

Meanwhile, the Israel national team is scheduled to face France in Paris on November 14 in the Nations League. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday the match would go ahead as planned at the Stade de France, just outside the French capital, after obtaining assurances from police.

“I think for some symbolic reason we must not give in, we must not give up,” he said, noting that sports fans around the world came together this year for the Paris Olympics to celebrate the “universal values” of sport.

“We will be uncompromising,” he added. “To touch a fellow Jew is to touch the republic. »

Corder writes for the Associated Press.