AMSTERDAM (AP) — Attackers attacked Israeli fans overnight after a soccer match in Amsterdam, leaving five people hospitalized, Dutch authorities said Friday. Dozens of people were arrested.

It was unclear how the violence began. Dutch and Israeli leaders denounced the attacks as anti-Semitic. Video showed Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in the streets before the match.

Peter Holla, the city’s acting police chief, said at a news conference that the fans were “intentionally attacked.” He said people on scooters carried out “hit-and-run” attacks, making it difficult for police to locate them.

The Israeli Foreign Minister urgently left for the Netherlands. Israel initially ordered two planes to be sent to take fans home, but the prime minister’s office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights.

Security concerns have surrounded matches with Israeli teams in several countries over the past year due to global tensions linked to the wars in the middle east. Before Thursday night european league match Between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Amsterdam authorities had banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration planned near the stadium.

Still, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema told reporters on Friday that the Dutch counterterrorism body said there was no concrete threat to Israeli soccer fans before the match.

Authorities said additional police would patrol Amsterdam in the coming days and that security would be beefed up at Jewish institutions in the city that has a large Jewish community and was once home to Jews. Anne Frank, World War II journalist and his family while hiding from the Nazi occupiers.

Friction had been growing in the days leading up to the game. Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that a Palestinian flag was torn from a building in the city center on Wednesday.

Before the match, the video also showed large crowds of supporters of the Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, chanting anti-Arab slogans. “Let the IDF and (expletive) the Arabs win,” the fans chanted, using the acronym for the Israeli army, while shaking their fists. Maccabi fans have used the same chant during recent matches in Israel. It also showed police pushing several pro-Palestinian protesters away from a gathering of Maccabi fans in a square earlier in the day.

It was not immediately clear when and where the violence broke out Thursday night.

The Dutch capital’s municipality, police and prosecutor’s office said the rioters “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them in various parts of the city. “The police had to intervene several times, protect Israeli supporters and escort them to hotels.”

He described the violence as anti-Semitic.

Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, said he and some friends were leaving the stadium after the game. Someone, he didn’t see who, threw a stone at him, hitting his head and causing him to hemorrhage. He said a group of Arab men began chasing him, before he and his friend quickly got into a taxi and picked up other fans. They took refuge in a hotel.

“I’m very scared, it’s very striking. This shouldn’t happen to anyone, especially in Amsterdam. “Many friends were injured, kidnapped, robbed and the police did not come to help us,” he said.

Amsterdam police said in a post on social media platform X that they have launched a major investigation into multiple violent incidents. More than 60 people were arrested and 10 remained in custody on Friday, according to Amsterdam prosecutor René de Beukelaer.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said: “This is simply anti-Semitic violence against Israelis,” calling the attacks “frankly shocking and reprehensible.”

After the overnight violence, Israel ordered two planes to be sent to the Dutch capital to bring Israelis home, but the prime minister’s office later said it would work to “provide civil aviation solutions for the return of our citizens”.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that “the harsh images of the attack on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked” and that Netanyahu “views the horrific incident with the utmost seriousness.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “strong and swift measures” against those involved.

Netanyahu’s office added that he had called for greater security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.

Security concerns related to hosting matches against visiting Israeli teams led the Belgian football federation to refuse to host a men’s Nations League match in September. That game against Israel was played in Hungary without fans in the stadium.

The violence in Amsterdam will no doubt lead to a review of security at upcoming matches involving Israeli teams. European football body UEFA announced already on Monday that Maccabi’s next Europa League match, scheduled in Istanbul on November 28 against Turkish team Besiktas, would be moved to a yet-to-be-decided neutral venue “after a decision of the Turkish authorities.” “

Meanwhile, Israel’s national team is scheduled to play France in Paris on November 14 in the Nations League. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday that the match would go ahead as planned at the Stade de France, on the outskirts of the French capital, after assurances from police.

“I think for a symbolic reason we should not give in, we should not give up,” he said, noting that sports fans from around the world gathered at the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the “universal values” of sport.

“We will be intransigent,” he added. “To touch a fellow Jew is to touch the republic.”

Mike Corder, Associated Press