Police officers from the Netherlands watch as people gather during a small pro-Palestinian demonstration on Dam Square in Amsterdam, November 9, 2024. — AFP

The attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam this week followed tensions that began brewing days earlier between fans and pro-Palestinian activists and others in the city, a timeline of events shows.

Supporters of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were beaten by groups of thugs in the early hours of Friday after a match against Ajax Amsterdam, the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, said.

Among the dozens of Israeli supporters who were chased and attacked, five suffered injuries that required hospital treatment, police said. In total, 63 suspects have been arrested and authorities have promised an investigation, while politicians inside and outside the country have expressed their condemnation.

Tension began to rise on Wednesday when some of the 3,000 visiting Maccabi fans got into minor altercations with locals, including taxi drivers and Ajax supporters, in the city centre, police said.

A police report said groups of Maccabi supporters burned a Palestinian flag in Dam Square, tore down another from a nearby building and vandalized a taxi.

After a call out on social media, angry Muslim taxi drivers gathered outside a casino where 400 Maccabi fans were gathered, and police intervened in the skirmishes.

Some Dutch media have reported that social media videos from Wednesday show the beating of a Muslim taxi driver and youths shouting anti-Semitic insults at a Maccabi supporter who was pushed into a canal. Reuters could not verify those descriptions of the scenes.

On the day of the match, Maccabi fans were filmed chanting anti-Arab slogans in front of the National Monument in Amsterdam’s central Dam square in videos verified by Reuters.

Dutch pro-Palestinian groups planned a demonstration outside the stadium during the match. They argued that the match should have been canceled because of Israel’s war in Gaza, in which more than 43,000 Palestinians have died.

But Dutch authorities allowed it to proceed because the relationship between the two teams’ fans – the usual source of violence in soccer – is generally good, Halsema said Friday.

With a clash between protesters and football fans seen as the biggest security threat, the mayor moved the anti-match demonstration to a remote location.

Ajax’s most die-hard supporters, known as the F side, had said politics and football should be kept separate and that they would “intervene if necessary” if the demonstration went ahead at the stadium.

Ajax has strong Jewish associations and fans sometimes carry Star of David flags to matches; It also has many Muslim followers.

Riot police at the stadium kept opposing groups separated and few incidents were reported when the match ended around 1:00 p.m.

But around midnight security collapsed in the city center.

Amsterdam banned demonstrations over the weekend and gave police emergency stop-and-search powers.