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    • Israeli football fans targeted in Amsterdam attacks: Officials
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    Israeli football fans targeted in Amsterdam attacks: Officials

    Vaseline Posted on

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been briefed on the details of a “violent incident” targeting Israelis in Amsterdam, his office said.

    The Israeli government said Friday it has sent two rescue planes to Amsterdam to evacuate its citizens injured in an outbreak of violence linked to a Europa League football match.

    Israeli and Dutch officials described the incident as anti-Semitic attacks.

    At least five people were taken to hospital and 62 people were arrested, police said in a statement. The precise circumstances that led to the violence were not immediately clear, but unverified videos circulating on social media showed crowds running through the streets of central Amsterdam and a man being beaten.

    Supporters of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv had traveled to the city for a match against local side Ajax, who won the match 5-0. Authorities said pro-Palestinian demonstrators had tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Stadium, where the match was being played, even though the city had banned them from protesting there. Police said Israeli fans left the stadium without incident after the match, but several clashes were reported in the city center.

    According to police, reports of a “possible hostage situation” have not been confirmed.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he “views with the utmost seriousness what he called “planned anti-Semitic” attacks on Israeli citizens. He requested increased security for the Dutch Jewish community and ordered the Israeli army to send planes to return those injured in the incident to Israel.

    Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged all Israeli citizens in the Dutch city to stay in their hotel rooms after the attacks. “Fans attending a football match were met with anti-Semitism and attacked with unimaginable brutality simply for being Jewish and Israeli,” he said in a post on X.

    There were reports that some Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans and behaved provocatively. In Israel, some Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have developed a reputation for violence and racism. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans allegedly hit a man with a Palestinian flag in Athens ahead of their team’s match against Greek side Olympiacos in March.

    Tensions have been high in the Middle East and beyond since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostages.

    At least 43,469 Palestinians have been killed and 102,561 others injured during Israel’s military offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack, according to Hamas health officials in the enclave. The war has led to protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States, and both Arabs and Jews have been attacked.

    According to the Anti-Defamation League Center for Extremism, reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the US have reached an all-time high since last year’s Hamas attack in Israel.

    A year later: The number of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate incidents has been increasing since the October 7 attacks

    Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands said in a statement that anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis in Amsterdam had taken place. Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, condemned the attacks. “Embarrassed that this can happen in the Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” he wrote on X.

    Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan involved in the attack, said masked men threw a rock at his head from a distance and narrowly missed. He said he was chased before getting into a taxi and fleeing the area.

    “The world needs to know that Jewish people outside Israel cannot walk freely,” Ziv, 27, said in a WhatsApp message.

    (This story has been updated to add new information.)

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