Israel to Collect Soccer Fans from Amsterdam after 5 Injured

In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
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Israel to Collect Soccer Fans from Amsterdam after 5 Injured

In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)
In this image taken from video, police escort Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters to the metro, after pro-Palestinian supporters marched near the soccer stadium, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo InterVision)

Israel was sending two commercial planes to the Netherlands on Friday to repatriate hundreds of Israeli soccer fans after overnight attacks in the streets of Amsterdam that officials described as antisemitic.
Videos on social media showed riot police intervening in clashes, with some attackers shouting anti-Israeli slurs.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were "attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks" and that riot police intervened to protect them and escort them to hotels. At least five people were treated in hospital, she said.
Security measures were increased in the city, where hundreds gathered on Thursday to remember Kristallnacht, the Nazi pogrom against Jews across Germany on Nov. 9-10, 1938.
Antisemitic incidents have surged in the Netherlands since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Hamas group on Oct. 7, 2023, with many Jewish organizations and schools reporting threats and hate mail.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the order to send planes was taken after "a very violent incident" targeting Israeli citizens after the match between Maccabi and Ajax Amsterdam, traditionally identified as a Jewish club.
"This is a serious incident, a warning sign for any country that wishes to uphold the values of freedom," it said.
A video verified by Reuters showed a group of men running near Amsterdam central station, chasing and assaulting other men, as police sirens sounded.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "horrified by the anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens", which he called "completely unacceptable".
Schoof said he had assured Netanyahu by phone that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted".

Police said there had been incidents before the game, for which roughly 3,000 Maccabi supporters travelled to Amsterdam.
The Israeli embassy in The Hague said mobs had chanted anti-Israel slogans and shared videos of their violence on social media, "kicking, beating, even running over Israeli citizens".

Police said 62 suspects had been detained after the game as pro-Palestinian demonstrators tried to reach the Johan Cruyff Arena, even though the city had forbidden a protest there.

They said fans had left the stadium without incident after the Europa League match, which Ajax won 5-0, but that clashes erupted overnight in the city center.

The Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia said two rescue flights were on the way to Amsterdam.



Prince William Reflects on 'Brutal' Year as Kate Returns to Public Life

Catherine said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements 'when I can'. Danny Lawson / POOL/AFP
Catherine said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements 'when I can'. Danny Lawson / POOL/AFP
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Prince William Reflects on 'Brutal' Year as Kate Returns to Public Life

Catherine said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements 'when I can'. Danny Lawson / POOL/AFP
Catherine said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements 'when I can'. Danny Lawson / POOL/AFP

Her attendance at the events in London are the first time that Catherine, who is widely known as Kate, will be at a major royal occasion since ending chemotherapy.
Buckingham Palace's announcement came as her husband Prince William described the past year in which both Kate and his father battled cancer as "brutal" and probably the "hardest" of his life, said AFP.
Charles, 75, will lead the royal family at two of the most important events in the royal calendar -- Saturday evening's Festival of Remembrance commemorative concert and Sunday's ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial.
Senior royals traditionally attend the solemn wreath-laying at the monument near parliament alongside political leaders, current and former members of the armed forces, including war veterans.
But the presence of Charles's wife Queen Camilla, 77, has not yet been confirmed after she withdrew from engagements earlier this week due to a chest infection.
Her attendance would be subject to medical advice nearer the time, the palace said.
William, 42, on Thursday revealed how he had coped since both illnesses were announced.
"Honestly, it's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life," he told reporters at the end of a four-day visit to South Africa for his Earthshot prize initiative.
"So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult."
The palace in February announced that Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed cancer and would withdraw from public life to undergo treatment.
The following month Kate, also 42, revealed that she too had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.
Both have since made limited returns to public duties, although head of state Charles, who recently toured Australia and Samoa, is still undergoing treatment.
'Crack on'
Catherine said in September that she had completed her chemotherapy and was looking forward to undertaking more engagements "when I can".
"I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done," William added.
"But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal," he said.
This year's awards ceremony for William's Earthshot prize was held in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The initiative honors projects seeking novel solutions to the challenges facing the world's nature and climate.
William is also committed to a five-year program, Homewards, launched by his philanthropic foundation to tackle homelessness in the UK.
When told he appeared relaxed, William said he "couldn't be less relaxed this year".
"It's more a case of just crack on and you've got to keep going," he said.
"I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself, and keeping sure that I have got time for my family too," he added.
He and Kate have three children together: Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis.
In addition to health problems, the royal family has this year faced continuing tensions surrounding William's estranged brother Harry.
Harry's ties with his family have been increasingly fraught since he and wife Meghan quit royal life and moved to California in 2020.
William and Harry used to be close -- a bond that was forged with the death of their mother Princess Diana in 1997. But according to British media reports, they have not spoken to each other in two years.