Israel sent several chartered planes to Amsterdam to bring back Israeli soccer fans after they were attacked following a match on November 7 by what Mayor Femke Halsema described as "anti-Semitic hit-and-run squads."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incidents "anti-Semitic attacks" as his office announced that the Israeli airlines El Al and Israir have set up special flights for free on November 8 and 9 to do the job.
El Al said it was sending six planes to bring the fans home, and Israeli airport authorities said later on November 8 that the first plane had landed.
Amsterdam police said that 62 people were detained following the violence, with 10 in custody on November 8 in connection with the clashes -- which left five people hospitalized -- in the center of Amsterdam between young locals and Israeli supporters who had come to watch Maccabi Tel Aviv's game against Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League competition.
"This is a very dark moment for the city, for which I am deeply ashamed," Halsema told a news conference. "Anti-Semitic criminals attacked and assaulted visitors to our city, in hit-and-run actions," she said.
Dutch authorities said there was no concrete threat to Israeli soccer fans before the game and that it was not clear how or precisely when the violence began.
Peter Holla, the city's acting police chief, told a news conference that the Israeli fans were "willfully attacked."
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned "anti-Semitic" violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, calling the attacks "despicable" throwbacks to dark moments in history.
"The anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam are despicable and echo dark moments in history when Jews were persecuted," Biden said on X.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and other world leader joined Biden in condemning the violence.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attacks as "vile" and said she discussed them with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
"Outraged by last night's vile attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam," von der Leyen said in a post on X. "I strongly condemn these unacceptable acts. Antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe. And we are determined to fight all forms of hatred."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar flew to Amsterdam for impromptu meetings with the Dutch government and far-right leader Geert Wilders, and Amsterdam banned demonstrations for three days.
Police said fans had left the stadium on November 7 without incident after the game was won 5-0 by Ajax, but various clashes in the city center were reported during the night.
Video posted online also purported to show Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in the streets ahead of the game.
Maccabi fans are known to have used similar chants in Israel at recent matches there.
Earlier, a pro-Palestinian protest against Maccabi's visit scheduled to take place near the stadium was banned by Dutch authorities for security reasons amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
SEE ALSO: Israel's Wars In Gaza And Lebanon Fray Relations With EuropeAnti-Israeli protests have been held in various parts of the world, including in Western Europe amid Israel's war in the Gaza Strip against Iran-backed Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and the EU, following the group's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people.
The conflict has spilled outside of Gaza and into southern Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah -- designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party. Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.
Schoof said he was "horrified" by the incidents. which he called "completely unacceptable." He said he told Netanyahu that those who are guilty would be "identified and prosecuted."
Netanyahu told Schoof that he "views the premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens with the utmost seriousness and requested increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands," the Israeli prime minister's office said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he had talked to Dutch King Willem-Alexander on the phone, who had voiced "deep horror and shock over the criminal acts committed."
The Israeli Embassy in the United States said on X that "hundreds" of Maccabi fans were "ambushed and attacked in Amsterdam tonight as they left the stadium following a game against Ajax."
"The mob who targeted these innocent Israelis has proudly shared their violent acts on social media," the embassy said in its message accompanied by a video of violent clashes in the city.
Israel also said it had banned members of its military from traveling to the Netherlands.