Dutch PM calls violence targeting Israeli football fans 'unacceptable'

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday said the violence targeting Israeli citizens surrounding a soccer match in Amsterdam was unacceptable, adding that all perpetrators needed to be prosecuted.

"I followed the news from Amsterdam with disgust," Schoof said in a post on X in which he also said he was in touch with his Israeli counterpart, Binyamin Netanyahu, on the incident.

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Netanyahu sent two rescue planes to the Netherlands on Friday after Israeli football fans were reportedly injured in violence in Amsterdam.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu views the horrifying incident with utmost gravity and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens," his office said in a statement.

The prime minister's office did not say what led to the "very violent incident against Israeli citizens", but Dutch media AT5 reported that fights broke out Thursday night between fans at a Europa League match involving Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Ajax.

The report said numerous fights, as well as acts of vandalism, had occurred in the city centre.

"A large number of mobile unit vehicles are present and reinforcements have also been called in," it said.

The Israeli embassy in the United States said "hundreds" of Maccabi fans were "ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game".

In its post on social media platform X, the embassy blamed the incident on a "mob who targeted innocent Israelis".

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

Israel's new foreign minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that he had requested the Dutch government's assistance in ensuring Israeli citizens' safe exit from their hotels to the airport. 

Images on AT5 showed Dutch police escorting fans back to their hotels. 

On Thursday, Amsterdam police said on social media that they were being particularly vigilant in the wake of several incidents, including the tearing down of a Palestinian flag from a building.

A pro-Palestinian rally demonstrating against the Israeli football club's visit was initially scheduled to take place near the stadium but was relocated by the Amsterdam city council for security reasons.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)