Dutch police detain 50 protesters at pro-Palestinian rally after soccer unrest

Dutch police said they took away more than 300 pro-Palestinian protesters who ignored a ban on demonstrations in Amsterdam on Sunday and detained 50 more after clashes involving Israeli soccer fans last week.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital's Dam Square, chanting "Free Palestine" and "Amsterdam says no to genocide" in reference to the Gaza war.

Israel had denied allegations of genocide in its more than year-long offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

After a local court ratified the city council's ban, police moved in, instructing protesters to leave and rounding up more than 100 of them.

Police said they removed 340 people from the protest area by putting them on buses and dropping them on the outskirts of the city. Another 50 protesters were detained by police.

One protester was bleeding and was taken to an ambulance.

The ban, which authorities extended for another four days until Thursday, has been in place since Friday last week after attacks on Israeli soccer supporters following a soccer match between visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam.

At least five people were injured in assaults that Dutch authorities and foreign leaders, including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denounced as anti-Semitic.

On Sunday, Israel urged its citizens to avoid attending cultural and sports events abroad involving Israelis over the coming week. A statement issued by Netanyahu's office said Israel had intelligence that pro-Palestinian groups abroad intended to harm Israelis in cities in the Netherlands, the UK, France, Belgium and others.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office announced he would attend the France-Israel match at Stade de France on Thursday to promote "fraternity and solidarity" after the events in Amsterdam.

In the Netherlands, protest organisers said in a message on Instagram they were outraged by the "framing" of unrest around the match as anti-Semitic and called the protest ban draconian.

"We refuse to let the charge of anti-Semitism be weaponised to suppress Palestinian resistance," they said.

Four people remain detained on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors. Another 40 people have been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offences including vandalism.

Police said hit-and-run actions were held against visiting Israeli fans last Thursday night, adding fans burned a Palestinian flag and used sticks, pipes and rocks in clashes with opponents, as video footage showed.

Police said on Sunday they would also investigate footage showing Maccabi fans using violence, though a police spokesperson could not immediately confirm which footage would be part of the investigation.

Local police chief Olivier Dutilh told the court on Sunday the protest ban was needed as anti-Semitic incidents were continuing, including people being pushed out of taxis and told to show their passports on Saturday night.

The Netherlands has seen a rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the Gaza war began in October last year.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military offensive on Gaza, according to health officials there, and much of the enclave has been destroyed. Israel launched its campaign after Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostage in a cross-border attack, according to Israel.

Reuters