Seven men are appearing in court on Wednesday and Thursday in connection with the violent confrontations before and after the Ajax Maccabi Tel Aviv football match on November 7.

The seven, three from Amsterdam, the others from Monnickendam, Utrecht, Eindhoven and The Hague, have been charged with violent disorder on the day of the match or afterward, as well as robbery, group insult and the possession of fireworks.

Both Israeli officials and the Dutch government had urged the public prosecution department to treat the attacks on Israeli fans as terrorism. But the seven will not be charged with terrorism because there is not enough evidence they intended to instill fear, local department chief René de Beukelaer said last week.

The seven appearing in court this week range in age from 19 and 32. Five of the men are currently in custody and the other two were released earlier.

One of those released, a Syrian with a Palestinian background, told broadcaster NOS on Monday he had come to Amsterdam on the day of the match for a demonstration.

Mohammed B, who fled to the Netherlands in 2015 and has a residency permit, was caught on camera chasing a bald Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter who, according to NOS, was an Israeli police officer and who did not press charges.

B, who denies hitting anyone, told NOS he had acted after a group of six Maccabi supporters gave him and other demonstrators the finger and made a throat cutting gesture. “I hope there is camera footage which supports my story,” he said.

Five supporters of the Israeli club were taken to hospital after being attacked by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “hit and runs” by “youths on scooters” following the Europa League tie against Ajax.

As yet, police have not said how many people were attacked and how many incidents there were.

Police arrested 62 people for public offences on day of the match itself, 10 of whom were Maccabi supporters.

Whatsapp groups

Investigators are still looking into WhatsApp groups where the attacks were discussed. “There are app groups where it is clear that calls were being made to get Jews, Zionists, Israelis – all the terms were used interchangeably,” De Beukelaer told AT5.

“Was it coordinated? You can define that in lots of ways. There is definitely a sense of group involvement. Whether you can prove that legally is a different matter. But it’s true that different groups have gone after individuals, scattered throughout the city. It’s not just one person coming up with all of this.”

Photos

Unblurred photographs of 12 more people wanted in connection with the pre and post match violence were broadcast on a television crime show this week in an effort to identify them.

The photos of the 11 men and one woman – wearing pink earmuffs – were shown earlier with faces blurred to give them the chance to come forward. All were involved in kicking, hitting or holding others during the trouble before and after the match, the police say.

Three people whose photos were shown in that earlier broadcast have already been identified. Police have so far come up with 45 suspects caught on camera footage.