Israeli teens were attacked overnight Tuesday during a vacation in Rhodes, Greece, hours after pro-Hamas protesters prevented tourists arriving by ship from Israel from entering the country, Ynet reported.

Israeli sources said that the assailants were of Turkish origin and were armed with knives.

Yoav, a teen who was attacked, told Ynet, “A commotion started when we were inside the club, and we said that it wasn’t for us and that we wanted to go back to the apartment. We started walking back home via a shortcut, hoping we wouldn’t meet them and instead of continuing on the main street, we turned into an alley. One of the pro-Palestinians met us and asked if we were the ones who were in the club. We said no and wanted to start moving on. Suddenly we saw a huge group of them and we started running away.”

“We split into two groups, with each group going to a different place. At some point we thought we had lost them, and then we heard the noise of motorcycles coming towards us. Each of us tried to hide in a different place. I hid behind a van, and they caught me and beat me. They asked where my friends were, and I said I didn’t know. They asked me to call them, and I said I didn’t have Wi-Fi. I told them I wasn’t Israeli. They asked to see a passport, and I said it wasn’t on me. There was one punch that really hurt. I cried part of the time and pretended to faint so they would stop.”

“As bad as these people are, there was one who understood that it was enough, and they left. I returned to the apartment scared, and every time I saw a motorcycle, I trembled with fear and hid. It was really traumatic. We won’t be going back to Greece anytime soon.”

Orit Gutman, Shachar’s mother, told Ynet, “They went out to spend time in a place known as a place for Israelis. When they went inside, they saw that there were pro-Palestinians there causing trouble. They decided to leave but then a group was waiting for them outside and started chasing them. The assailants managed to catch some of the boys and beat them. My son managed to escape with another friend, hid behind a wall, and contacted us. We spoke with the Foreign Ministry, and in the meantime two Swedes took them to their hotel and called the police, who took all of them to the airport.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)