Amsterdam police 'overtaken' by speed of attacks on Israel fans: report
Amsterdam police trying to contain attacks on fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv in November were overwhelmed by assailants' hit-and-run tactics and rapid incitement via social media, according to a report published on Monday.
The violence in the early hours of November 8, 2024, followed two days of skirmishes that saw Maccabi fans chant anti-Arab songs, vandalise a taxi and burn a Palestinian flag.
The attacks left five people briefly hospitalised.
Police acted with "great commitment, flexibility and professionalism", concluded the report by an oversight body in the justice ministry.
Authorities were able to deploy 1,200 officers, drones, arrest squads, horses and water cannons but were still caught off-guard by the fast-moving events.
"Although the police acted decisively, they were also overtaken at times by the speed and unpredictability of developments," the report noted.
"Blitz attacks by small groups of rioters, using taxis and scooters to move around quickly and target Jewish people on the streets, made different demands on the approach taken by the police."
Social media was another key factor in making the violence difficult to contain, the report said.
"People were able to spread messages and images at lightning speed, thereby heightening existing tensions," it noted.
"Relatively minor incidents, such as the removal of a Palestinian flag by Maccabi supporters, were shared, interpreted, and magnified within minutes."
The report also criticised reactions in the immediate aftermath of the violence.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog talked of an "anti-Semitic pogrom" while Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema drew parallels between the violence and "memories of pogroms".
She later regretted this, saying the word had been used as propaganda.
"What stands out is the speed with which everyone expressed an opinion in the aftermath of the events," said the report.
"Politicians, administrators, and the media immediately jumped to conclusions, without having any insight into exactly what had occurred."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Insider
12 hours ago
- Gulf Insider
Trump Expects Hamas Answer In 24 Hours On 'Final' Peace Proposal
President Donald Trump announced Friday that it would likely become clear within 24 hours whether Hamas would accept what he described as a 'final proposal' for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza. He also mentioned in the fresh statement that he had discussions with Saudi Arabia about broadening the Abraham Accords, in reference to the normalization agreements between Israel and certain Gulf nations established during his first term in office. On Tuesday Trump said that Israel had agreed to the terms required for a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which both sides would aim to work toward ending the lengthy war which has been raging in the wake of the Oct.7, 2023 terror attacks. A Hamas official on Thursday told the BBC that the Palestinian militant group is now 'ready and serious' to reach a deal if it ended the war. That was in reaction to President Trump having said that Israel has agreed to the 'necessary conditions' to finalize the proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. Trump said the US would 'work with all parties to end the War' – in a post on Truth Social. However, no details have been given on this particular ceasefire plan. Israel has not confirmed it agreed to any specific conditions as of yet. 'I hope… that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better – IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,' Trump wrote. But what will the consequences be if Hamas refuses – more bombing of the Gaza Strip? Some details revealed in Israeli media have been presented as follows: According to an unsourced Channel 12 report Thursday, Trump has offered a direct guarantee to Hamas that if it agrees to the so-called Witkoff framework — which includes the release of 10 living hostages in two phases and 18 bodies in three phases over the course of a 60-day ceasefire — the US will ensure efforts continue to reach a lasting end to the conflict. Israel is also believed to be under heavy US pressure to clinch a ceasefire deal ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington for talks with Trump next week. The prime minister is set to visit the White House on Monday. Trump also said Friday that Gazans have 'been through hell' and that 'I want the people of Gaza to be safe.' But he didn't directly answer when a reporter asked if the US is still considering taking any security responsibility over the Gaza Strip as part of the proposed truce plan. Trump, in response to a question about whether he intends to control the Gaza Strip: I want the people of Gaza to be safe; that's more important than anything else. They've been through hell — mahmoud khalil (@zorba222) July 3, 2025 The plan that the Trump administration floated in February included the permanent relocation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and turning the land into a Mediterranean resort destination. No Arab or neighboring nation has stepped forward to say they would accept more Palestinian refugees. Almost all regional states have historically absorbed at least tens or hundreds of thousands. American security contractors are currently present in the Gaza Strip, controversially as part of a US and Israeli-backed humanitarian aid distribution program.
Daily Tribune
16 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
Modi boosts India-Africa ties
AFP | Accra Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi yesterday outlined plans for deeper ties between his country and Africa, as New Delhi increasingly vies for a stronger economic presence on the continent along with China and Russia. In a speech to Ghana's parliament, Modi highlighted a major rail project that opened in the west African nation last year, financed by the India Export-Import Bank. He also underlined his country's expanding diplomatic development and business footprint in Africa. 'Over 200 projects across the continent enhance connectivity, infrastructure and Industrial capacity,' Modi said. On the political front he welcomed 'the establishment of Ghana-India Parliamentary Friendship Society in your parliament'. Modi's visit is the first to Ghana by an Indian leader in three decades. But India's rival China remains the most important backer of infrastructure across the continent, a position only strengthened as the United States and other Western powers slash aid programmes. In a meeting Wednesday, Modi and Ghanaian President John Mahama agreed to deepen security and mining ties. In November 2024, the Indian prime minister visited Nigeria, discussing trade and security at a time when Indian companies had expressed interest in investing in Nigerian industries including steel. The Indian prime minister also yesterday called for a greater global diplomatic role for both his country and Africa, warning that 'the world order created after the Second World War is changing fast'. Global South's voice Modi noted that the African Union had been admitted as a permanent member to the G20 while India held the rotating presidency of the bloc. Progress on worldwide challenges including climate change, diplomacy, 'terrorism' and pandemics 'cannot come without giving voice to the Global South', he added. Resource-rich Ghana is Modi's first stop in a tour that will take the Indian premier to four other countries in Africa, the Caribbean and South America. The visit to Accra came as he made his way to Brazil for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies on Sunday and Monday. Highlighting his own country's economic development aspirations to become a 'developed nation by 2047,' Modi said 'India remains a committed partner in Africa's development journey.
Daily Tribune
16 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
69 killed in Gaza strikes
AFP | Gaza City Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 69 people yesterday, including 15 in a strike on a school sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war nearing its 22nd month. Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where its war on Hamas militants has created dire humanitarian conditions and displaced nearly all of the territory's population of more than two million. Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military often says target Hamas militants hiding among civilians. In an updated toll yesterday afternoon, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 69 people were killed by Israeli strikes, artillery or gunfire across the territory. They included 38 people waiting for humanitarian aid at three separate locations in central and southern Gaza and a child killed by a drone in Jabalia in the north. Bassal said 15 people, 'the majority of them children and women', were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City. Ceasefire pressure Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military (IDF) said regarding that incident that it 'struck a key Hamas terrorist who was operating in a Hamas command and control center in Gaza City'. 'Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,' it added. Regarding numerous other strikes across the territory yesterday, it said it could not comment in detail without precise coordinates and times. 'In response to Hamas' barbaric attacks, the IDF is operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities,' it told AFP. It said it 'follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm'. Pressure has risen for a ceasefire to allow sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza at scale and permit the release of hostages seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's October 2023 attack that sparked the war. US President Donald Trump earlier this week declared a new ceasefire push, aiming for an initial 60-day truce, which he said had Israel's backing. But Israel's leaders held firm to their aim of crushing Hamas, even as the group said Tuesday it was discussing new proposals for a ceasefire from mediators. Strike hits school At the Gaza City school compound hit yesterday, AFP footage showed young children wandering through the charred, bombed out building, as piles of burnt debris smouldered. Groups of Palestinians picked through the rubble and damaged furniture that littered the floor. Umm Yassin Abu Awda, who was among mourners who gathered at the city's Al-Shifa hospital after the strike, said: 'This isn't a life. We've suffered enough.' 'For two years, we've been fighting just to get a piece of bread,' she told AFP. 'Either you (Israel) strike us with a nuclear bomb and end it all, or people's conscience needs to finally wake up.' Bassal of the civil defence agency reported 25 people killed while seeking aid near the Netzarim area in central Gaza, six others at another location nearby and seven in Rafah, southern Gaza, with scores of people injured. They were the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have hit people trying to receive scarce supplies. Across Gaza yesterday, Bassal said artillery shelling in the northern town of Beit Lahia killed three people. Further south, he said three people were killed in a strike that hit tents housing displaced people in the coastal Al-Mawasi area.
