Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to Amsterdam following “a very violent incident” targeting Israelis citizens, his office says, after attacks linked to a football game were reported.

Israel’s national security ministry has also urged its citizens in the Dutch city to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the Prime Minister’s office said in a second statement.

“Fans who went to see a football game, encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness,” Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on X that he followed reports of the violence “with horror”.

“Completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with everyone involved,” he added, saying that he had spoken to Netanyahu and “emphasised that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. It is now quiet in the capital.”

Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest party in the Dutch government, condemned the reported Amsterdam attacks in a post on X.

“Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.

The Dutch ministry of foreign affairs had no immediate comment on the statements by the Israeli government.

Passions have been running high in the Middle East and abroad since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostage, according to Israel.

At least 43,469 Palestinians have been killed and 102,561 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack, according to health officials in the enclave.

The Gaza war has sparked protests in support of both sides across Europe and the United States, and Arabs and Jews have been attacked.

–AAP with AP