AMSTERDAM (AP) — Israeli fans were attacked after a soccer match in Amsterdam by a group of teenagers angered by calls on social media to target Jews, Dutch officials said Friday. While 5 injured people were treated in hospitals, dozens of people were detained.

Tension was escalating in the Dutch capital Israeli campaigns in Gaza and Lebanoneven before thursday night Europa League match Between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Amsterdam authorities banned a planned pro-Palestinian demonstration near the stadium, and video showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans on their way to the match.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said the youths on scooters then traveled across the city on foot looking for Israeli supporters, punching and kicking them and then speeding away to escape the police.

He added in Telegram groups: “There is talk of people hunting for Jews. This is so shocking and so despicable that I still can’t understand it.

Police had to escort some fans to hotels, according to officials.

Ofek Ziv, a Maccabi fan from Petah Tikva, Israel, said that while he and a friend were leaving the stadium, someone (whom he did not see) threw a stone at him. He was shot in the head, causing minor bleeding. He said a group of Arab men started chasing him before he and his friend got into a taxi with other fans. They took shelter in a hotel.

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

Another fan, Alyia Cohen, said she and her friends were approached by some aggressive men when they returned to their hotel after the game. Since the group was not wearing Maccabi jerseys, “They did not understand that we were Israelis… Nothing happened to us, but there was a great chaos that we did not expect.”

In his speech when he returned to Israel, he said that he would return for the next matches. “We are not afraid of anything, ours is the people of Israel.”

Amsterdam police spokeswoman Sara Tillart said it was too early to say whether anyone other than football fans were targeted in the investigation.

Police said 5 people were treated and released from hospital, while 20 to 30 people suffered minor injuries. At least 62 suspects have been arrested, while 10 are still in custody, the city’s prosecutor, René de Beukelaer, told reporters at a press conference on Friday.

As condemnation of the violence as antisemitic came from across Europe, the attacks came at a time when Amsterdam had long valued itself as a sign of tolerance and a haven for persecuted religions, including Sephardic Jews who arrived from Portugal and Spain centuries ago. It shattered his vision.

Halsema called the violence “an explosion of antisemitism that we hope never to see again in Amsterdam.”

The police said that the security of Jewish institutions in the city, which has a large Jewish community and hosts Jews, will be increased. World War II diarist Anne Frank and his family while hiding from Nazi invaders.

The violence reverberated heavily in Israel and Europe. Israel’s foreign minister went on an emergency trip to the Netherlands, and the government initially ordered two planes to be sent to the Dutch capital to bring the fans home. The prime minister’s office later said it would work to help citizens organize commercial flights.

In the statement made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, it was stated that “the harsh images of the attack on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be ignored” and that Netanyahu “takes the terrible incident extremely seriously.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “strong and swift action” against those involved.

Maccabi’s CEO, Ben Mansford, spoke to the press at Israel’s international airport during the return of some fans. “A lot of people went to watch a football game to support Israel, to support the Star of David,” he said. They were attacked, saying “this is a very sad time for all of us, given the past year.”

It was unclear Thursday night the extent of the attacks, where and when they occurred. Tension had been going on for days.

A Palestinian flag was taken down from a building in Amsterdam on Wednesday and authorities banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations near the stadium, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported.

Before the match, a large crowd of Israeli team fans were seen chanting anti-Arab slogans as they walked to the stadium under police escort.

Fans shook their fists and chanted “May the IDF win and the Arabs (expletive),” using the Israeli army’s acronym. Police were also seen removing several pro-Palestinian protesters from a Maccabi fan meeting held in the square earlier in the day.

De Beukelaer said police were investigating “to what extent an organization was behind” the attacks on Israeli fans, adding, “I have very little indication for that at the moment.”

Security issues surrounding the staging of matches against visiting Israeli teams led the Belgian football association to refuse to organize a men’s Nations League match in September. The match against Israel was played in Hungary without fans in the stadium.

Israel was exiled from the Asian Football Confederation in the 1970s after Arab nations refused to play against it. Israel played in the 1982 World Cup European qualifiers and has been a member of European football body UEFA since 1994.

The violence in Amsterdam will undoubtedly lead to a review of security at upcoming matches involving Israeli teams. European football body UEFA announced on Monday that Maccabi’s next Europa League match against Turkish team Beşiktaş in Istanbul on November 28 will be moved to a yet-to-be-determined neutral venue “following the decision of the Turkish authorities”. ”

Meanwhile, the Israeli national team is scheduled to face France in the Nations League in Paris on November 14. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday that the match would be played as planned at the Stade de France, just outside the French capital, following assurances from police.

“We shouldn’t give up for a symbolic reason, we shouldn’t give up,” he said, noting that sports fans from around the world have gathered for the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the “universal values” of sports.

“We will be uncompromising,” he added. “To touch a Jewish citizen means to touch the republic.”

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Associated Press reporters Julia Frankel and Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, Lee Keath in Cairo, Graham Dunbar in Geneva and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.