Masked protesters clash with Israeli football supporters as fans 'ambushed and attacked' in Amsterdam

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to Amsterdam following the incident.

Meanwhile, Israel's National Security Ministry has also urged its citizens in the Dutch city to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the Prime Minister's office said in a second statement.

Israeli football supporters and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central station

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Dutch mobile Police officers stand guard after several scuffles broke out in the city center following the UEFA Europa League match

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Israeli football supporters and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central station

Reuters

A fan opens a Trump banner as fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv stage a pro-Israel demonstration at the Dam Square,

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Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv stage a pro-Israel demonstration at the Dam Square, lighting up flares and chanting slogans

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President Isaac Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence recalled the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen last year as well as the anti-Semitic attacks on European Jews in the pogroms of previous centuries.

He wrote on social media: "We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7, we had hoped never to see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam."

Hard right politician Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, condemned the reported Amsterdam attacks in a post on social media. He said: "Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call.

Israeli football supporters and Dutch youth clash near Amsterdam Central station

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Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip

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Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema said her services were still in the process of ascertaining the full extent of the violence that targeted fans, saying: "Despite the massive police deployment in the city, Israeli supporters were injured."

Tensions have been running after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Health authorities in the enclave say more than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza.

Israeli forces stepped up bombardment across the Gaza Strip this week and ordered more evacuations, creating a fresh wave of displacement from northern Gaza, to which Palestinians fear they will not be able to return.

Palestinian health officials said at least 10 people had been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school housing displaced families in Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a Hamas command centre embedded inside the compound that previously served as a UN-run school.

It accused Hamas of exploiting civilian facilities for military purposes, which the group denies.