Chaos descended on a football match in the Israeli Premier League, with 12 arrests made during riots on the pitch.
Supporters of Bnei Sakhnin, a team historically backed by Israeli Arabs, turned their backs on the Israeli national anthem prior to kick-off.
Furious fans of Hapoel Beer-Sheva then reacted by storming onto the pitch to fight their Sakhnin counterparts, even beating them with long sticks.
Footage shows the brawl unfold with the weapons being used during violent confrontations.
Hundreds of people sprinted onto the turf to get involved in the ugly scenes and film from the stands captured the incident.
Hapoel Beer-Sheva fans rioted and confronted supporters of Bnei Sakhnin
Footage showed sticks being used in the violent clashes on the pitch
Supporters of Bnei Sakhnin (above), pictured here previously in a state cup final, are predominantly from the Arab minority in Israel
All 12 of the rioters arrested were Hapoel Beer-Sheva fans and the players and referees took shelter off the pitch.
Following the brawl, the match had been scheduled to start again but Bnei Sakhnin players refused to return to the pitch.
Sakhnin is an Arab-majority town placed within Israel following the redrawing of borders after the 1948 conflict and the football team is supported by many of the Arab population of Israel, themselves a minority within the country. It is also well supported by Palestinians.
‘We are prepared to face the consequences of not appearing for the match,’ the club officially stated after the riot, saying that the squad did not feel safe.
An hour after the proposed new kick off time – the league announced that the match would not take place.
A statement from the Israeli Premier League read: ‘After Hapoel Beer-Sheva fans stormed the pitch and the Sakhnin players went to the locker rooms, the police commander at the stadium informed the Sakhnin players that there were no obstacles to holding the match, and police forces were deployed to ensure the game’s proper conduct.
‘Despite this, some Sakhnin players refused to return to the field. The match will not take place today, and the matter will be referred to the disciplinary committee for resolution.’
And the police added: ‘This evening, during the national anthem, before the kickoff of the football match between Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Bnei Sakhnin, dozens of fans from both teams stormed the pitch and started a violent brawl.
When fans of Hapoel Beer-Sheva saw their rivals turn their backs on the Israeli national anthem, they ran onto the pitch to confront them and spark violent clashes
‘The police forces present at the stadium acted quickly, restored order, and arrested 12 fans from both teams.
‘Following the incident, Bnei Sakhnin’s players refused to resume the match, and the referee decided to cancel it.’
Back in 2018, Sakhnin slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sharing what the club said was false claims against their fans.
He claimed Bnei Sakhnin supporters disrupted a minute’s silence remembering 10 teens who died in a hiking accident. The teenagers from a pre-military academy had been swept away in a flash flood.
Netanyahu reposted a story from a right wing outlet alleging the disrupted silence, saying: ‘An utter disgrace. I expect all public leaders, Jews and non-Jews, to forcefully condemn this embarrassing behavior.’
Bnei Sakhnin previously accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (above) of spreading lies
Sakhnin then released a statement accusing him of trying to sow division: ‘It is very worrying that the prime minister rushed to respond to lies and to respond to those who are seeking to spread abuse and lies,’ the club’s spokesperson said.
‘It is worrying that the honorable prime minister decided to trample on the difficult pain of the families for the purpose of dividing Israeli society.’
The violent scenes during the match on Sunday night took place against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
The death toll in Gaza is now understood to be more than 40,780 men, women and children. The ongoing military action from Israel followed the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel which killed 1,200 people.