This article was originally published in English
57 people have been arrested after violence between football fans which broke out following a match in the Dutch capital. Both leaders described the violence as “anti-Semitic”.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chartered two planes to Amsterdam to rescue Israeli citizens after what he and Dutch officials called “anti-Semitic” attacks following a soccer match.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said ten people were injured and two were missing, advising its nationals to stay in their hotel rooms.
The fans were in Amsterdam to watch a match between Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch team Ajax.
Supporters were reportedly attacked at different locations in the Dutch capital before the start of the match. According to the Times of Israelseveral other attacks also began after the defeat of the Israeli team against Ajax.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the attacks “totally unacceptable” and “anti-Semitic”, adding that he was in contact with his Israeli counterpart.
He said the situation was under control and the perpetrators would be found and prosecuted.
The Amsterdam police wrote on that“a Palestinian flag had been torn from a facade by people still unknown” she said she had “prevented a confrontation between a group of taxi drivers and a group of visitors on Max Euwe Square” located in the city center.
Israel sends planes to repatriate its supporters
Mr. Netanyahu announced that he was sending planes to the Netherlands, including medical and rescue planes, and that he had spoken with the Dutch prime minister.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the IDF’s international spokesperson, described the decision to send planes to Amsterdam as part of a “historic duty to protect our people“.
Videos posted on social media show chaos on the city’s streets, with groups attacking each other. A widely circulated video, which has not been independently verified by Euronews, shows a person on the ground in the middle of a street being kicked by several people.
Dutch police said 57 people had already been arrested, many of them at the Johan Cruyff Arena where the match was taking place.
She added that ten arrests took place before the match even started, when hundreds of Maccabi fans gathered in central Amsterdam early on Thursday.
Thirty other people were arrested in Anton de Komplein Square, near the football stadium, where people were protesting the arrival of the Israeli football club and clashed with police.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema previously banned a protest in the stadium and directed it to the square.
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