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.



Nuclear Watchdog Chief Says Room to Maneuver on Iran 'Shrinking'

Rafael Grossi, chief of the IAEA, spoke to AFP on the sidelines of the UN climate summit COP29 - AFP
Rafael Grossi, chief of the IAEA, spoke to AFP on the sidelines of the UN climate summit COP29 - AFP
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Nuclear Watchdog Chief Says Room to Maneuver on Iran 'Shrinking'

Rafael Grossi, chief of the IAEA, spoke to AFP on the sidelines of the UN climate summit COP29 - AFP
Rafael Grossi, chief of the IAEA, spoke to AFP on the sidelines of the UN climate summit COP29 - AFP

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that "the margins for maneuver are beginning to shrink" on Iran's nuclear program ahead of an important trip to Tehran.

"The Iranian administration must understand that the international situation is becoming increasingly tense and that the margins to maneuver are beginning to shrink, and that it is imperative to find ways to reach diplomatic solutions," Rafael Grossi, told AFP in an interview at the COP29 climate summit in Baku.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is allowed to carry out inspections in Iran, he said, but "we need to see more. Given the size, depth and ambition of Iran's program, we need to find ways of giving the agency more visibility."

His visit comes after Donald Trump -- who pulled out of a hard-won nuclear deal with Iran negotiated under Barack Obama -- has been voted back into the White House.

"I already worked with the first Trump administration and we worked well together," the IAEA chief insisted.

To the dismay of many of its allies, Washington pulled out of the agreement in 2018. The deal was supposed to dismantle much of Iran's nuclear program and open it up to greater inspection in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

- Tehran 'open' to talks -

All attempts to revive the 2015 accord -- signed with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- have since failed.

"It's an empty shell," Grossi admitted.

Since then the Iranian nuclear program has continued to expand, even if Tehran denies it has a nuclear bomb.

The Islamic Republic has greatly increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 per cent, according to the IAEA, close to the 90 percent needed to make an atomic weapon.

But since the new reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian took office in August, Tehran has indicated that it would be open to talks to resurrect the agreement.

Grossi's last visit to Iran was in May when he went to Isfahan province, home to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

He then urged Iran's leaders to adopt "concrete" measures to address concerns over its nuclear program and to increase cooperation with inspectors.