An Israeli tourist was hospitalized after he was injured in an antisemitic attack by a group of Syrian migrants at a beach near Athens, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Motzei Shabbos.

The tourist, Stav Ben-Shushan, told Channel 12 News from his hospital bed that he was with his wife and another Israeli couple when a Syrian man started videoing them and screaming, “Free Palestine” and “I am Hamas,” along with expletives about Israel.

The man then threw sand at him, prompting Ben Shushan to push him away. Security guards at the beach intervened and forcibly removed the Syrian from the area.

Ben Shushan added that about an hour later, he was walking back from the bathroom when he saw the Syrian man approach his wife and try to assault her. When he rushed to intervene, the Syrian bit his ear and tore part of it off.

The police arrested the Syrian and also briefly detained Shushan after the Syrian accused him of making racist statements.

The Foreign Ministry said that according to initial information, a group of migrants identified the Israeli tourists and began harassing them. “One of the individuals later attacked the Israeli man while he was in the water, biting his ear and causing a serious injury,” a ministry spokesperson said. “The attacker is under arrest, and we are in contact with the victim and Greek authorities.”

The incident follows two recent antisemitic incidents in Greece, including an attack on an Israeli group of teens by a group of Turks in Rhodes and a pro-Hamas protest on the island of Syros, which prevented 1,600 Israelis from disembarking from a cruise ship.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)