Amsterdam police say 5 hospitalized after attacks on Israeli football fans

Security concerns have shrouded matches with Israeli teams in multiple countries over the past year because of global tensions linked to the wars in the Middle East

AMSTERDAM: Israeli fans and protesters clashed overnight after a soccer match in Amsterdam, leaving five people hospitalized and 62 arrested, police said Friday. Dutch authorities said attackers systematically targeted Israeli fans.

It was not clear how the violence began. Dutch and Israeli leaders denounced the violence as antisemitic. Video also showed Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans in the streets at some point.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema told reporters Friday that the Dutch counter-terror watchdog said there was no concrete threat to Israeli soccer fans before the game.

Peter Holla, the city's acting police chief, said at the news conference that the fans were "willfully attacked."