Some football fans attending the European Nations League match between France and Israel in Paris whistled and booed while the Israeli anthem was played at the beginning of the match.

Thursday’s match was played in front of a small crowd and heavy security, a week after violence between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli fans in Amsterdam.

Despite fears of a repeat of the violence in Amsterdam, there were only a few brief scuffles in the stands in the first half of the match and the match ended in a 0-0 draw.

President Emmanuel Macron, who attended the match with Prime Minister Michel Barnier, said beforehand that France would not bow to antisemitism.

Thousands of police were deployed to provide security at the Stade de France and on public transport in the northern suburbs of Paris, while an elite anti-terrorist police unit also protected the visiting Israeli team.

A reporter for France’s AFP news agency witnessed stewards intervene to stop clashes between rival fans in the stands.

About 100 Israeli fans defied their government’s travel warnings and sat in a corner of the 80,000-capacity stadium, which was barely a fifth full, according to Reuters news agency.

They waved yellow balloons and chanted “Free the hostages,” referring to Israelis held by Hamas militants in Gaza, the agency reported.

Before the match, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a square near the stadium and waved Palestinian, Lebanese and Algerian flags to protest the war in Gaza.

One of the banners read, “We do not play with genocide.”

Israel has rejected the genocide allegations as unfounded and grossly distorted.

He launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

More than 43,700 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Politicians across Europe condemn “return of antisemitism” after incident Israeli fans chased through the streets of Amsterdam.

According to city officials, Maccabi fans were also involved in vandalism, tearing up a Palestinian flag, attacking a taxi and chanting anti-Arab slogans. They were then targeted “by small groups of rioters on foot, scooter or car,” the city’s 12-page report said.

Violence between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East has the potential to spread to Europe.

France, Belgium and the Netherlands all have large Muslim populations of North African descent, living alongside much smaller Jewish populations who often identify strongly with Israel.

Following Amsterdam, President Emmanuel Macron attended Thursday’s match alongside Prime Minister Michel Barnier and former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy to express solidarity with European Jews.

While fans were told that they had to check their IDs before the match, bars and restaurants in the area were told to close in the afternoon.

The Stade de France was the scene of a dangerous breakdown of law and order in the UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in 2022. But since then the Rugby World Cup and the Paris Olympics have been staged peacefully here.

France’s far-left party, Unyielding France (LFI), which has sided with the Palestinians and Lebanese in the conflict with Israel, called for Thursday’s match to be canceled or at least for Macron to refuse to attend.

“We do not want our president to honor a country that committed genocide,” said LFI MP David Guiraud.

However, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that there was no question of canceling the match or moving it to another location. “France will not bow to those who sow the seeds of hatred,” he said.

In UEFA, France and Israel are in the same group with Italy and Belgium. France defeated Israel 4-1 in the first match played in Budapest.

Pre-match tensions were already evident on the eve of the match, after approval for a pro-Israel “gala” event in Paris, at which far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich was expected to attend. it was later thought that his “presence” would be via video link.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian and anti-racist organizations also protested in the capital to coincide with the event. Clashes broke out and police used tear gas as protesters targeted a McDonald’s on Montmartre Boulevard.

Relations between Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu have been seriously strained in recent weeks after Macron accused the Israeli prime minister of “spreading barbarism” in Gaza and Lebanon.

French Jews were also upset when Macron was quoted as saying that Netanyahu should accept the United Nations’ calls for a ceasefire because “his country itself was established by a UN decision.” This was interpreted as an insult to the Jews in Israel who lost their lives in their country’s war of independence.

France was also angered by the brief detention of two French officials by Israeli authorities at a French-administered holy site in East Jerusalem.

It is stated that Macron has zigzagged in his approach to the Middle East, as in many other areas, and has flip-flopped inconsistently between outspoken statements of support for Israel and then for its Arab neighbors.