On the social media platform Telegram, “there is talk about people going to hunt down Jews,” Halsema said. “That is so shocking and so despicable that I still can’t comprehend it.” Dutch Justice and Security Minister David van Weel promised to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.

According to authorities, police had to escort some fans back to hotels.

Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, said someone threw a rock at his head, causing slight bleeding, as he and a friend left the stadium. He said a group of men began chasing him, before he and his friend got into a taxi, picked up other fans and took refuge in a hotel.

“I’m very scared, it’s very surprising,” Ziv said. “And the police didn’t come to help us.”

Another Israeli fan, Alyia Cohen, said upon returning to Israel that she would return to Amsterdam for future matches. “We are not afraid of anything, ours is the people of Israel.”

Five people were treated at the hospital and released, while 20 to 30 people suffered minor injuries, police said. At least 62 suspects were arrested and 10 are still in custody, city prosecutor René de Beukelaer told reporters at a news conference on Friday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it “views the horrific incident with the utmost seriousness.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “strong and swift measures” against those involved.

Condemnation of the violence came from all over Europe. “Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in Europe and we are determined to combat it and all forms of hatred,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. “We want Jewish life and culture to thrive in Europe.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned the violence and flew home early from a European Union summit in Hungary.

The attacks shattered Amsterdam’s long-cherished vision of itself as a beacon of tolerance and refuge for persecuted religions, including Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain who fled to the city centuries ago.

Police said security will be beefed up at Jewish institutions across the city, which has a large Jewish community and was home to World War II Jewish journalist Anne Frank and her family while they hid from Nazi occupiers.

Halsema, mayor of Amsterdam, described the violence as “an eruption of anti-Semitism that we hoped to never see again in Amsterdam.”

In the past, Ajax was known as a football club with ties to Amsterdam’s Jewish community because visiting fans had to pass through the city’s Jewish quarter to reach the club’s former stadium. Ajax fans sometimes wave Star of David flags and chant the Dutch word for Jews.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar flew to Amsterdam on Friday and in a message on X said that Jew-hatred is “appearing in one place after another.”

Saar met with the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice, promising Israeli help in the investigation, and also held talks with Geert Wilders, a far-right anti-Islam lawmaker whose party won national elections last year.

Amsterdam police spokeswoman Sara Tillart said it was too early in the investigation to say whether anyone other than soccer fans were targeted. Authorities banned protests across the city over the weekend and gave police additional powers to search people.

Israel’s government initially ordered two planes to be sent to Amsterdam to bring fans home, but Netanyahu’s office later said it would work to help citizens arrange commercial flights.

Maccabi general manager Ben Mansford spoke to reporters at Israel’s international airport as some fans returned. “A lot of people went to see a football game… to support Israel, to support the Star of David,” he said. For them to be attacked, “they are very sad moments for all of us given the last year we have had.”

Tension had been building in Amsterdam in the days leading up to the match. A Palestinian flag was torn from a building in Amsterdam on Wednesday, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported, and authorities banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium.

Before the match, large crowds of Israeli team supporters could be seen on video chanting anti-Arab slogans as they made their way to the stadium, escorted by police.

“Let the IDF and (expletive) the Arabs win,” the fans chanted, using the acronym for the Israeli army, while shaking their fists. It also showed police pushing several pro-Palestinian protesters away from a gathering of Maccabi fans in a square earlier in the day.