By Anthony Deutsch and Bart H. Meijer

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Israel was sending commercial planes to the Netherlands on Friday to bring Israeli football fans home after nightly attacks in Amsterdam that authorities described as antisemitic, but there was evidence of Israeli fans chanting provocatively.

Videos on social media showed riot police intervening in clashes and some attackers shouting anti-Israeli insults. However, some footage also shows Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans before the match on Thursday evening.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were “attacked, harassed and pelted with fireworks” and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. It was stated that at least 5 people were being treated in the hospital.

Security measures have been increased in the city, where hundreds of people gathered on Thursday to commemorate the Kristallnacht pogrom carried out by the Nazis against Jews throughout Germany on November 9-10, 1938.

Anti-Semitic incidents have increased in the Netherlands since Israel launched an offensive on Gaza after the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and many Jewish organizations and schools have reported threatening and hateful messages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the order to send the plane was taken after a “very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens following a match between Maccabi, traditionally described as a Jewish club, and Ajax Amsterdam.

A video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and attacking other men as police sirens blared.

However, another verified video showed Maccabi fans throwing flares and chanting “Ole, ole, let the IDF win, we will fuck the Arabs”, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was “appalled by the anti-Semitic attacks against Israeli citizens” and that it was “completely unacceptable”.

Schoof said he assured Netanyahu over the phone that “the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Dutch King Willem-Alexander and said he “expressed profound horror and shock at the criminal acts committed.”

Herzog quoted the king as saying that the Netherlands had failed the Jewish community during World War II (under Nazi occupation and persecution).

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Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, head of the largest party in the Dutch government, said he was “ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands.”

In his harsh post on the social media platform X, he blamed “criminal Muslims” and said they should be deported.

Police said there were incidents before the match, when approximately 3,000 Maccabi fans went to Amsterdam.

The Israeli embassy in The Hague said mobs were chanting anti-Israeli slogans and sharing videos of violence on social media showing them “kicking, beating and even trampling Israeli citizens.”

“It is horrifying to once again witness anti-Semitic violence on the streets of Europe on the eve of Kristallnacht, when Jews in Nazi Germany were subjected to brutal attacks,” the statement said.

Police said 62 suspects were detained after the match as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the municipality had banned protests there.

It was stated that after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, the fans left the stadium without incident, but clashes broke out in the city center throughout the night.

Herzog was among senior Israeli politicians who said the violence was reminiscent of last year’s attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen and attacks on European Jews in pogroms in previous centuries.

“This morning we see with horror the shocking images and videos that we had hoped to see again since October 7: an anti-Semitic pogrom against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam.” He wrote to X.

Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia announced five flights to Amsterdam.

The Gaza war sparked protests in Europe and the United States in support of both sides, and both Jews and Arabs were attacked.

In March, Herzog opened a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam, sparking violent protests from pro-Palestinian activists.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and 102,000 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials in the region, after the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray in Cairo, Ahmed Elimam in Dubai; Writing by Emily Rose and Jonathan Saul in Jerusalem and Mahezabin Syed in Bangalore; Writing by Michael Georgy and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Lincoln Feast, Michael Perry and Kevin Liffey)