After Amsterdam, Israeli football hooligans terrorise Paris

Clashes involving Israeli football hooligans broke out in the stands of the Stade de France in Paris during a tense match between Israel and France’s men’s football teams on Thursday night.

Outside, hundreds protested the presence of the Israeli team in France, and some spectators held up Palestinian flags that had been banned inside the stadium.

The 80,000-capacity stadium was barely a fifth full due to a boycott campaign of the game over Israel's two-front aggression, which has killed 43,736 people in Gaza and 3,386 others in Lebanon since early October last year.

The game had been designated as “high risk” after the hooliganism and violence witnessed in The Netherlands before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.

For that reason, about 4,000 police officers were deployed around Stade de France, along with 1,600 additional security personnel.

French President Emmanuel Macron attended the game alongside predecessors Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Michel Barnier, in a show of solidarity with Israel.

#football #soccer #france #stadedefrance #israel #paris