A protest in support of Palestine has ended in chaos after several people were arrested following the aftermath of football violence in Amsterdam.
Protesters were arrested in the Dutch capital after taking part in a pro-Palestine protest as city authorities had banned all demonstrations, according to a local broadcaster.
It comes after ugly scenes across Amsterdam saw violence targeting fans of an Israeli football club and footage showing Israeli football fans chanting anti-Arab slogans.
Five people were taken to hospital and 62 were arrested on Thursday night after violence following a football match in Amsterdam between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax.
The city’s mayor Femke Halsema said there were ‘scooter hit-and-runs’ involved in the attacks which have been condemned as anti-Semitic.
She banned all demonstrations over the weekend following the string of violence on Thursday and Friday targeting Maccabi Tel Aviv fans.
Ahead of the match, Maccabi fans ripped a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam and chanted anti-Arab slogans while on their way to the stadium, the AP news agency reports.
Maccabi fans also reportedly started fights.
Isolated Maccabi fans were reportedly attacked on the street. Footage shows one man crouching on the ground and pleading ‘I’ll give you money, please go’ while another person standing over him shouts ‘free Palestine, you want to kill kids?’
Ajax fans were left angered when Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters disrupted a minute’s silence held in memory of the Valencia flood victims.
On Sunday, police detained one man during a protest in Dam Square.
Protesters were heard yelling slogans such as ‘free Palestine’ and ‘Amsterdam says no to genocide.’
Around 20 people were detained, the AP reports citing local broadcaster AT5.
Amsterdam Municipality said on X that police had started arresting demonstrators who refused to leave the square.
Protest organisers tried to secure an injunction to allow the demonstration.
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However, the judge upheld the ban issued by the authorities.
All protests have now been banned until next Thursday, Sky News reports.
Now an investigation has launched after reports that gangs of youth attacked Maccabi fans following alleged calls on social media to target Jewish people.
Senior Amsterdam police officer Olivier Dutilh said had been incidents overnight targeting people who were thought to be Jewish.
Some were reportedly forced out of taxis and others were asked to show their passports to confirm their nationality.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that the attacks and demands to show passports ‘were reminiscent of dark periods in history’ as he met with the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
A Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal have been thrown into question after Qatar – a key mediator – withdrew from negotiations.
It also told that Hamas’s Doha office ‘no longer serves its purpose.’
The Qataris withdrew after reportedly telling both the Israelis and Hamas that they cannot continue to mediate ‘as long as there is refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith,’ a source said.
The Israeli air strikes have killed more than 43,500 people in the Gaza strip, according to Palestinian health authorities.
UN said that 70% of those killed in Gaza are women and children which Israel has disputed, Reuters reports.
Israel launched the military campaign following an attack by Hamas fighters on October 7 last year which killed 1,200 people and the kidnapping of around 250 hostages.
One of the hostages still in captivity is a British national Emily Damari.
The 28-year-old Tottenham Hotspur fan was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza more than a year ago.
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