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


Netanyahu condemns ‘premeditated antisemitic attack’ on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned on Friday what he described as a premeditated attack on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam during a call with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Prime minister Netanyahu stated that he views the premeditated antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost seriousness and requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands,” his office said.

AFP reports that clashes erupted after a Europa League football match in Amsterdam overnight, with Israel sending rescue planes for their citizens. The violence flared after the game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and home team Ajax, which won 5-0.

The Dutch prime minister denounced the “completely unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis”.

“I followed with horror the coverage from Amsterdam,” Schoof wrote on X, adding that he had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Netanyahu, to assure him that “the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted”.

Have been following the news from Amsterdam and am horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens. This is completely unacceptable. I am in close contact with all parties involved and have just spoken to @IsraeliPM Netanyahu by phone to stress that the perpetrators will…

— Dick Schoof (@MinPres) November 8, 2024

According to AFP, Dutch media AT5 said the clashes occurred around midnight. Social media platforms were flooded with unverified images purported to be of the violence, but confirmed details of the clashes were few.

AT5 said that 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 US 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.

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Key events

Israel’s president condemns clashes in Amsterdam

Israeli presiden, Isaac Herzog, on Friday condemned clashes in Amsterdam after a Europa League football match, saying the “shocking images” of violence were reminiscent of the Hamas attack on 7 October last year, reports AFP.

“We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands,” Herzog said in a statement on X.

We see with horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that since October 7th, we had hoped never to see again: an antisemitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

This is a serious…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) November 8, 2024

He added:

This is a serious incident, a warning sign for any country that wishes to uphold the values of freedom. I give my full support to the cooperation now taking place between the governments, and trust that the authorities in the Netherlands will act immediately and take all necessary measures to protect, locate, and rescue all Israelis and Jews under attack, and to eradicate the violence against Jewish and Israeli citizens by all required means.”

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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles on Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.

AFP reports that the Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the Stella Maris naval base, north west of Haifa, with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy”.

The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area. In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David airbase, south east of Haifa, with missiles.

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Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, said on Friday her services were still in the process of ascertaining the full extent of the violence that targeted Israeli soccer fans surrounding an Ajax – Maccabi Tel Aviv Europe League game, reports Reuters.

“Despite the massive police deployment in the city, Israeli supporters were injured,” Halsema said in an Instagram post, adding that the exact figure of victims and people arrested was not yet clear.

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Israeli authorities urged their citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotels and avoid showing Israeli or Jewish symbols if they do go outside, reports AFP.

The army said it was coordinating a “rescue mission” with cargo aircraft and medical and rescue teams.

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. According to AFP, images on Dutch media AT5 showed police escorting fans back to their hotels.

On Thursday, Amsterdam police said on social media that they were being particularly vigilant as a result 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, reports AFP.

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Netanyahu condemns ‘premeditated antisemitic attack’ on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, condemned on Friday what he described as a premeditated attack on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam during a call with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Prime minister Netanyahu stated that he views the premeditated antisemitic attack against Israeli citizens with utmost seriousness and requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands,” his office said.

AFP reports that clashes erupted after a Europa League football match in Amsterdam overnight, with Israel sending rescue planes for their citizens. The violence flared after the game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and home team Ajax, which won 5-0.

The Dutch prime minister denounced the “completely unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis”.

“I followed with horror the coverage from Amsterdam,” Schoof wrote on X, adding that he had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Netanyahu, to assure him that “the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted”.

Have been following the news from Amsterdam and am horrified by the antisemitic attacks on Israeli citizens. This is completely unacceptable. I am in close contact with all parties involved and have just spoken to @IsraeliPM Netanyahu by phone to stress that the perpetrators will…

— Dick Schoof (@MinPres) November 8, 2024

According to AFP, Dutch media AT5 said the clashes occurred around midnight. Social media platforms were flooded with unverified images purported to be of the violence, but confirmed details of the clashes were few.

AT5 said that 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 US 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.

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Opening summary

Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the 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 targeted the Stella Maris naval base, north west of Haifa, with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy”.

Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to Amsterdam after “a very violent incident” targeting Israelis citizens, his office said on Friday, after attacks linked to a football game were reported.

Israel’s national security ministry has also urged its citizens in the Dutch city to stay in their hotel rooms after the attacks, the prime minister’s office said in a second statement.

“Fans who went to see a football game, encountered antisemitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness,” Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a post on X.

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

The Dutch ministry of foreign affairs had no immediate comment on the statements by the Israeli government, according to the news agency.

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

  • The US state department’s spokesperson, Matthew Miller, has said the US would continue to pursue a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon until the end of President Biden’s term. Miller said: “We will continue to pursue an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon, a surge of humanitarian assistance [to Gaza], and that is our duty to pursue those policies right up until noon on 20 January when the president-elect takes office.”

  • People in Gaza have been pushed “beyond breaking point” with families, widows and children enduring “almost unparalleled suffering”, according to the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Jan Egeland visited Gaza this week and found “scene after scene of absolute despair”, with families torn apart and unable to bury relatives who had died.

  • Israel’s ousted defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has reportedly said the army has achieved all its objectives in Gaza and that Netanyahu rejected a hostages-for-peace deal against the advice of his own security establishment. Gallant was speaking to hostages’ families on Thursday, two days after being sacked by Netanyahu, and reports of his remarks quickly surfaced in Israeli media.

  • Donald Trump will as president give Netanyahu a “blank check” in the Middle East, possibly opening the way for all-out war between Israel and Iran, the former CIA director and US defense secretary Leon Panetta predicted. “With regards to the Middle East, I think he’s basically going to give Netanyahu a blank check,” Panetta said of Trump, who won the presidential election this week and will take office again in January.

  • Footage recorded from a UN vehicle has shown the scale of destruction in northern Gaza. The video, filmed during a UN drive-through on Wednesday, shows roads completely torn up and buildings reduced to rubble.

  • Human rights organisations say they are gravely concerned that a young Iranian woman arrested for stripping down to her underwear could be subjected to torture after she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital by the authorities. Amnesty International said the situation facing the young woman was “alarming”.

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