According to authorities, there was an attack on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam

Roving gangs on scooters attacked and beat Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, overnight, sparking what authorities called an outbreak of anti-Semitic violence.

Footage circulating on social media showed supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football team being chased and attacked on Thursday evening. A video was geolocated by NBC News near Amsterdam Central Station and showed street fighting between the Israelis and their attackers.

“Boys on scooters crossed the city looking for Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters,” said Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. “It was a hit-and-run. Football fans were beaten and intimidated, after which the rioters quickly left and fled from the police, who were out in force yesterday.”

A separate video geolocated by NBC News showed Israeli fans taunting pro-Palestinian protesters before or after Thursday’s game by chanting “Death to the Arabs” and “Let the IDF win.” We will fuck the Arabs” and tear down a Palestinian flag.

The war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, has sparked outrage across Europe, including in the Netherlands.

Amsterdam, like many major cities around the world, has been rocked by large protests condemning the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza, the deaths of more than 43,000 Palestinians and the destruction of much of the enclave.

As images of the unfolding violence in the hometown of Holocaust heroine Anne Frank went viral, Israelis dispatched airliners to bring fans home.

“Yesterday there was an outbreak of anti-Semitism in Amsterdam that we had hoped we would no longer see,” Halsema said. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence that has taken place. There is fear, dismay, anger and disbelief among our Jewish Amsterdam residents.”

The fighting broke out after the match between the Israeli team and Dutch club Ajax. For many years, outbreaks of football hooliganism and fights between fans of rival clubs have occurred around the world. However, it is unclear to what extent this contributed to the violence in this case.

“Rioters” were “actively seeking Israeli supporters to target and attack,” a statement from Halsema’s office said.

At a news conference on Friday, Halsema said the city had taken emergency measures to prevent further violence, including a three-day ban on all demonstrations.

According to police, five people had to be treated in hospital, 20 to 30 others suffered minor injuries and at least 62 people were arrested.

Eyewitness describes attack

Iddo Gold, 23, told NBC News in a video call on Friday that he and other Maccabi fans took the train to downtown Amsterdam after the game. When they got there, they were ambushed, he said.

“Everyone was running through the streets,” Gold said. “Whatever they saw on the street, they tried to attack us.”

Gold said they were chased by attackers on motorcycles and some of their pursuers were armed with knives. He said they fled to their hotels and he let another fan stay with him because he was too scared to venture outside again.

When dawn broke, Gold said they were still too scared to go out on the streets.

In a video shared by the Israeli embassy in Washington, which NBC News could not independently verify, a man is seen being beaten as an attacker shouts, “This is for the children! Free Palestine now!”

Tevel Caro, 18, said he and a friend had already returned to their hotel when they received messages from other Maccabi fans about what was going on outside.

On Friday, Caro said he was staying in a safe house with dozens of other Israelis and was worried about how they would return home.

Caro, who said he would soon complete his mandatory Israeli military service, said he was disappointed that Israel was not deploying military aircraft in addition to the El Al planes.

“I felt so lonely,” Caro said. “You know, I’m supposed to be deployed in two weeks and no one is taking care of me.”

The Ajax team has in the past attracted fans from Amsterdam’s large Jewish community. The confrontation between Israelis and pro-Palestinians appeared to be more about Gaza than football.

Even before the game, tensions were simmering between Israeli fans and local Palestinian supporters, acting Amsterdam police chief Peter Holla said at a press conference on Friday.

As a precautionary measure, hundreds of additional police officers have been sent to Amsterdam, Hollas said.

Some of the Israeli fans raised tensions, Holla said, by attacking a taxi and a Palestinian flag on Wednesday.

There was also a confrontation between Israeli fans and pro-Palestinian protesters before the game, and police struggled to keep the two groups apart, Holla said.

World leaders condemn violence

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “appalled by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens.”

He called the violence “completely unacceptable” and said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone “to emphasize that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.”

Other European heads of state and government also shared this opinion. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described the images from Amsterdam as “terrible and deeply shameful for us in Europe” in a post on X.

Netanyahu was briefed in the Foreign Ministry situation room on Friday.

In comments shared by his office, he said Israel “cannot accept this” and that the violence “endangers us and them, the free countries and the Netherlands.”

Netanyahu compared the incident to Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” when almost exactly 86 years ago, on November 9, 1938, Nazi mobs in Germany launched pogroms and destroyed Jewish-owned homes, synagogues and businesses.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke directly to King Willem-Alexander about the “anti-Semitic pogrom” in Amsterdam This is what the Dutch royal family said. Expressing his shock, the king said: “History has taught us how intimidation gets worse and has terrible consequences.”

“The Jewish people must feel safe in the Netherlands,” said the king.

U.S. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, condemned the incident and also said it was “terribly reminiscent of a classic pogrom.”

Lipstadt said she was also “deeply disturbed by the duration of the reported attacks and called on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the intervention of security forces and the manner in which these despicable attacks took place.”

European soccer’s governing body UEFA condemned the violence on Friday and said it trusted authorities to “identify and charge as many of those responsible for such acts as possible.”

UEFA said in a statement that it intends to “review all official reports, collect available evidence, assess it and assess any further appropriate action in accordance with its relevant regulatory framework.”

The widening war in the Middle East has sparked protests around the world, including at sporting events. A huge “Free Palestine” banner was unveiled at a Paris Saint Germain game on Wednesday, drawing criticism from the French interior minister. The Israeli national team is scheduled to play against France in Paris on November 14th.