Israeli football supporters were attacked physically and with fireworks in the centre of Amsterdam on Thursday night, the city’s police force has confirmed.

The violence “exceeded all boundaries”, the police, mayor Femke Halsema and justice department said in a joint statement. “The scale of the incidents, number of victims and arrests is now being assessed.”

Police now say 62 people were arrested.

Riot police were forced to intervene several times and escort Israeli supporters to their hotels, the statement said. “This outburst of violence towards Israeli supporters is unacceptable and cannot be defended in any way. There is no excuse for the antisemitic behavior exhibited last night by rioters who actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them.”

Amsterdam hospitals report dealing with seven injured fans and all have since been released, broadcaster NOS said. The police said they are aware of five people with injuries and have urged all victims of the violence to come forward.

“A lot of people, Muslims, came up after us and wanted to fight,” one Maccabi Tel Aviv fan told broadcaster NOS. “They screamed at us and shouted ‘Free Palestine’. The police told us to go to our hotels and we ended up running.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the footage on Thursday evening and spoke of an “extremely violent incident” against Israelis in Amsterdam. Israel is reportedly sending two planes to Amsterdam to bring home supporters on Friday morning, although this has not been confirmed.

Halsema had already moved a demonstration by pro-Palestine campaigners which had been due to take place next to the Johan Cruijff stadium because of the security risk.

And she told reporters later that there had been no legal grounds to ban Maccabi supporters from coming to the Dutch capital despite widespread fears there could be trouble.

Anti-Palestine chants

On Wednesday night there had been several incidents involving Maccabi fans, one of whom was captured on film tearing a Palestine flag off a building. Footage from Wednesday evening also shows a large group of Maccabi supporters chanting “Fuck you Palestine” in the city centre.

RTL’s Middle East correspondent Pepijn Nagtzaam said that Maccabi Tel Aviv have a number of hardcore fans who are “not afraid of violence”.

They were also involved in fights with pro-Palestinian campaigners in Athens last month, he said. Turkey, he said, has also postponed the Europa League tie between Maccabi and Besiktas because it does not want the match to take place in Istanbul due to the risk of trouble.