62 detained after attacks on Israeli football fans

Young people on scooters attacked Israeli fans in hit-and-run assaults overnight after a soccer game in Amsterdam apparently fuelled by calls to target Jewish people spread on social media, Dutch authorities said Friday.

Five people were treated in hospitals and dozens were arrested. As many as 62 persons have been detained.

Tensions had been mounting in the Dutch capital over Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, even before the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

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.

Authorities said extra police would patrol Amsterdam, and security will be beefed up at Jewish institutions.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70% of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. The UN tally since the start of the war, in which Israel’s military is fighting Hamas militants, includes only fatalities it has managed to verify with three sources, and counting continues.

The 8,119 victims verified is a much lower number than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month-old war.