Maccabi Haifa fans attack Palestinian restaurant goers after match ends in draw

Dozens of Maccabi Haifa football fans attacked Palestinian restaurant goers with knives, sticks, and bottles; minutes after their match against Bnei Sakhnin, in the predominantly Arab town of Sakhnin, ended in a 3-3 draw.

Residents and eyewitnesses told Middle East Eye that several people were injured after Israeli fans, wearing the club's green and black colours, stormed the Amigo restaurant late on Saturday, near Bnei Sakhnin's Doha Stadium, shortly after the match ended.

"We were standing in the shop when suddenly they attacked us - around 80 of them," Ayham Abu Rayya, the restaurant's owner, told MEE. 

"They started hitting [us] with sticks, knives, glass bottles, and beer bottles. It was a sudden attack. They came prepared. The police were with them - and didn't arrest anyone."

Ayham's brother, who suffered a deep head wound that required 14 stitches, said the scene "looked like a battlefield", with several people treated for cuts, bruises and fractures.

"They smashed everything - the glass, the furniture, even the car outside,”" he said. 

"It was total destruction."

The attack followed a tense match between Maccabi Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin, one of the few Arab-majority clubs in Israel’s top football division.

Footage obtained by Israeli media outlets shows a crowd of Maccabi Haifa supporters running towards Amigos before chaos ensued. 

אלימה קשה בין קבוצות אוהדי מכבי חיפה ובני סכנין לאחר התיקו בין הקבוצות. שוטרי המחוז הצפוני עצרו עד כה 6 מעורבים בתגרה האלימה. לפחות 2 אוהדים קיבלו טיפול רפואי ופונו לבי"ח @N12News pic.twitter.com/L1rDvrlmUA

— אור רביד | Or Ravid (@OrRavid) November 8, 2025

According to The Times of Israel, six people were arrested in connection with the violence.

Ayham said the despite the arrests, "the police stood by while people were being beaten".

"They only started making arrests after everything was already destroyed."

'It could have been a massacre'

Gazal Abu Rayya, spokesperson for the Sakhnin municipality and a Bnei Sakhnin fan who attended the game, said the violence had been brewing from the start.

"From the very first minute, Maccabi Haifa fans began throwing fireworks," he told MEE. 

"When Sakhnin scored the first goal, things escalated. After the match, about a thousand Haifa fans left from the northern gate and started smashing shops. They stormed into a restaurant full of men, women and children. 

"It could have been a massacre."

'The screams of women and children filled the place. It was pure panic'

- Ayham Abu Rayya, restaurant owner

One of the injured, Ahmad Abu Ria, suffered a deep head wound requiring sixteen stitches and a broken arm. 

"The screams of women and children filled the place," Abu Rayya recalled. "It was pure panic."

He added that the attackers appeared to be organised. 

"They came with sticks and knives. They knew what they were doing. This wasn't spontaneous - they came ready."

Mundar Khalila, a community spokesperson, condemned the "blind violence" and accused authorities and media of downplaying the event because the victims were Arabs.

"This act of madness not only shames its perpetrators but also all those who choose to close their eyes and hold their tongues," he said, criticising the lack of condemnation from Maccabi Haifa’s management.

"If it had happened in the opposite direction, there would have been outrage. Your silence resonates."

'The coverage was biased'

Many Sakhnin residents also accused Israeli media of ignoring the story or portraying it as a minor brawl.

"The Hebrew media covered the event as if it were nothing," said Abu Rayya. "They didn't highlight it. The coverage was biased - they always incite against the Arab community and Bnei Sakhnin."

Abu Rayya also said that neither Haifa's mayor nor Maccabi Haifa's owner, Yaakov Shahar, had reached out to express concern. 

"This silence is dangerous," he said. "It destroys the values of sport. If Arab fans had done something like this to a Jewish team, the reaction would have been outrage and nonstop coverage."

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He added that Bnei Sakhnin has maintained good relations with other clubs, "but recently, there’s been clear incitement from the government against Arabs - and this hate has reached sports too", he said.

The Referees' Association and Referees' Committee also issued a statement condemning the violence, and said that several referees who had attended the game as spectators were "attacked and severely beaten".

"In conversations with the referees who were attacked, a harsh description of the circumstances and serious bodily injuries emerged," the statement read. 

"We are in contact with those affected and will provide them with any assistance required," it added.

Sunday's attack comes amid an increase of anti-Arab rhetoric in the stands, with research by the group Kick It Out Israel finding a 67 percent increase in racist chanting.

Most of the racist abuse has appeared at games featuring Maccabi Tel Aviv, but it has also been a feature at games involving Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Netanya.

A Maccabi Haifa spokesperson told MEE that the club rejected "all acts of violence and racism" and that they "trust and are confident that the Israel police will take action against those responsible for this incident".