The public prosecution department has drawn up a list of 122 suspects who were involved in the trouble surrounding the Europa League football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax last November, broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday.

Most of the suspects have not been identified, and most are either pro-Palestine sympathisers or troublemakers, the department said. Around 10 are Maccabi fans from Israel.

“The investigation is ongoing, but we are now assuming we have all the people involved in the most serious violence in our radar,” spokeswoman Mara van den Berg told NOS.

On the night of the Europa League tie, five supporters of the Israeli club were taken to hospital after being attacked following the match by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema then described as “hit-and-run” assaults by “youths on scooters”.

The violence caused outrage in Israel and elsewhere, with Israel at one point saying it would send over planes to rescue its citizens.

Since then, a more nuanced picture has emerged of what went on, although the police have still not said how many people were attacked or how many incidents there were.

Although locals were initially accused of going on a ‘Jew hunt’ against Maccabi fans and the city’s Jewish residents, it later became clear that Maccabi supporters also caused trouble both before and after the match, tearing down at least one Palestinian flag and chanting anti-Palestinian slogans.

In total, 62 people were arrested on the day of the match itself – 10 of whom were Maccabi fans – and most were released later.

The 122 people now considered to be suspects were involved in incidents on 6, 7 and 8 November, Van den Berg said. The incidents range from violent attacks on others to vandalism and discrimination.

So far, 36 of the 122 suspects have been identified, and the police are focusing on tracking down those involved in the most violent incidents. One Maccabi fan has been identified with the help of Israel, and that name is being verified.

Intensive contact

There has been intensive contact between the Dutch and Israeli police, and 250 witness statements and formal complaints have been made in Israel  which focusing on violence and discrimination, the department said. The statements are currently being translated from Hebrew.

In the Netherlands, 50 formal police complaints have been made, eight of which focus on discriminatory texts chanted by Israel supporters, and the rest for vandalism.

Court hearings

So far, 10 people have appeared in court in connection with the trouble. In December, five men were sentenced to community service and up to six months in jail. Three men were found guilty of violent assault, and two others for sharing information in a WhatsApp group that contributed to the violence.

On Wednesday, a 27-year-old man was jailed for 12 weeks for violence and group insult, while two others, aged 32 and 22 were jailed for six weeks and one month for calling for the attacks in a Whatsapp group.

A fourth man was jailed for 30 days, 19 suspended, and two years probation for his role in the attacks.

Footage

“We have tens of thousands of hours of footage from more than 100 cameras to study,” Van den Berg said. “We have to establish if the suspects, for example, are wearing the same shoes or jacket and then write up what they were doing. It is a hell of a lot of police work.”

Last week, the department published images of another 20 suspects, including several Maccabi fans. That resulted in a number of tips but no new arrests, she said.