Israel sends rescue planes to Amsterdam after attacks on football fans – Middle East crisis live | Israel

Israeli Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuon Friday condemned what he called a deliberate attack on Israeli soccer fans Amsterdam during a call with him Dutch counterpart Dick Schoofreports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that he views the deliberate anti-Semitic attack on Israeli citizens with the utmost seriousness and called for greater security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands,” his office said.

AFP reports that after a Europa League football match overnight in Amsterdam as Israel sent rescue planes for its citizens. The violence flared up between the two after the game Maccabi Tel Aviv and home team Ajaxwhich won 5-0.

The Dutch prime minister denounced the “totally unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis.”

“I watched the reporting from Amsterdam with horror,” Schoof wrote on

According to AFP, Dutch media AT5 said the clashes took place around midnight. Social media platforms were flooded with unconfirmed images purporting to show the violence, but there were few confirmed details about the clashes.

AT5 said there were numerous fights and acts of vandalism downtown. “A large number of mobile unit vehicles are on site and reinforcements have also been requested,” it said.

The Israeli embassy in the US said “hundreds” of Maccabi fans were “ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam this evening as they left the stadium after a game”.

In its post on social media platform X, the embassy blamed the incident on a “mob targeting innocent Israelis.”

A Dutch police spokesman told the ANP news agency that 57 people had been arrested.

Hezbollah said it was targeting a naval base nearby Israeli City of Haifa with missiles, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the group said it was targeting the target Stella Maris Naval Basenorthwest of Haifa, with rocket fire “in response to the attacks and massacres of the Israeli enemy.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin NetanyahuHe ordered that two rescue planes be sent immediately Amsterdam His office said Friday after “a very violent incident” against Israeli citizens after attacks were reported in connection with a soccer match.

The Israeli Ministry of Security has also asked its citizens to do so Dutch The city should remain in its hotel rooms after the attacks, the prime minister’s office said in a second statement.

“Fans watching a football match encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty simply because they were Jews and Israelis,” Israel’s security minister said. Itamar Ben-Gvirsaid in a post on X.

Video on social media showed crowds running through the streets and one man being beaten, Reuters reports.

According to the news agency, the Dutch Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the Israeli government’s comments.

More on this story in a moment. In other developments:

• US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US would continue to pursue a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon through the end of President Biden’s term. Miller said: “We will continue to seek an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon and an increase in humanitarian assistance.” [to Gaza]and it is our duty to continue this policy until noon on January 20th, when the President-elect takes office.”

• According to the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, the people of Gaza have been pushed “to the limits of their endurance” as families, widows and children endured “almost unprecedented suffering.” Jan Egeland visited Gaza this week and found “scene after scene of absolute despair,” with families torn apart and the inability to bury deceased relatives.

• Israel’s ousted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has reportedly said that the army has achieved all of its objectives in Gaza and that Netanyahu rejected a hostage-for-peace deal against the advice of his own security forces. Gallant spoke to the hostages’ families on Thursday, two days after his release by Netanyahu, and reports of his remarks quickly surfaced in the Israeli media.

• Donald Trump as president will give Netanyahu a “blank check” in the Middle East, potentially paving the way for an all-out war between Israel and Iran, former CIA director and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta predicted. “As far as the Middle East is concerned, I think he will essentially give Netanyahu a blank check,” Panetta said of Trump, who won the presidential election this week and will take office again in January.

• Footage taken by a UN vehicle shows the extent of the destruction in northern Gaza. The video, taken during a UN tour on Wednesday, shows streets completely torn up and buildings reduced to rubble.

• Human rights organizations say they are deeply concerned that a young Iranian woman who was arrested for stripping down to her underwear could be tortured after she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital by authorities. Amnesty International described the young woman’s situation as “alarming”.