Screengrab from a video of the assailants attacking the Israeli fans.
Credit: X/@ISefati
Hundreds of fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv were reportedly attacked on Thursday night in Amsterdam after the team's Europa League fixture against Dutch club AFC Ajax.
The assailants were seen carrying Palestinian flags and chanting 'Free Palestine' in several videos on social media. They were also seen forcing the Israeli fans to chant the same. The video was shared by the Israeli embassy in the US.
For hours, videos had been circulating on social media that showed violent clashes on Amsterdam streets. Local police said 57 people had been held after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff stadium, even though the city had forbidden them to protest there.
Police said fans had left the stadium without incidents, but during the night various clashes in the city centre were reported.
Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema said on Friday her services were still in the process of ascertaining the full extent of the violence surrounding the Ajax - Maccabi Tel Aviv game.
"Despite the massive police deployment in the city, Israeli supporters were injured," Halsema said in an Instagram post, adding that the exact figure of victims and people arrested was not yet clear.
“We woke up this morning to shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom,” said Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, on social media Friday.
Dutch police said in a statement Friday that 57 arrests were made in connection with the unrest, some of which took place at or near the Johan Cruyff Arena, where Ajax, Amsterdam’s soccer team, was playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv, of Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked his Dutch counterpart to help get Israeli out of the country safely following the incident. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said at least 10 Israeli citizens had been hurt in the violence and two others were missing.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also, in a statement, said that he has been informed of the details of "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam, his office said on Friday. He directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday said the violence targetting Israeli citizens surrounding the match in Amsterdam was unacceptable, adding that all perpetrators needed to be prosecuted.
"I followed the news from Amsterdam with disgust," Schoof said in a post on X in which he also said he was in touch with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the incident.
The Israeli military said on Friday that it is preparing to immediately deploy a rescue mission with the coordination of the Dutch government.
"The mission will be deployed using cargo aircraft and include medical and rescue teams," the IDF said.
"Fans who went to see a football game, encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness," Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.
Ajax won the game 5-0 with goals from Traoré, Taylor, Godts, Brobbey and Fitz-Jim.
(With Reuters and NYT inputs)