An Israeli tourist is recovering in a Greek hospital after a Syrian migrant bit off part of his ear while yelling “I am Hamas” during a violent beach confrontation.
Stav Ben-Shushan was vacationing at Bolivar Beach on the Athenian Riviera with his wife and another Israeli couple when the attack occurred Saturday. Speaking from his hospital bed, Ben-Shushan told Channel 12 News that a man approached their group and began filming while screaming, “Free Palestine, fuck Israel, I am Hamas.”
Initially, Ben-Shushan said his group tried to ignore the disturbance. But the situation escalated when the man threw sand at the other Israeli tourists they were speaking with.
“I started shoving the attacker,” Ben-Shushan explained, before security guards intervened to separate them and removed the assailant from the beach.
About an hour later, Ben-Shushan was returning from the bathroom when he spotted the same man approaching his wife. “I saw him return and approach her, and appear to attack her,” he told the Israeli news outlet. When Ben-Shushan rushed to protect his wife, the Syrian man bit his ear, tearing off part of it.
Greek police arrested the Syrian migrant following the assault. However, they also detained Ben-Shushan after the attacker filed a counter-complaint, alleging the Israeli tourist had made racist remarks during their confrontation. Ben-Shushan remains hospitalized for treatment of his injuries.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the incident in a statement Saturday evening.
“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.”
This assault marks the latest in a series of anti-Israeli incidents plaguing Greece in recent weeks. Earlier this month, pro-Hamas protesters on the island of Syros prevented 1,600 Israeli passengers from disembarking their cruise ship, forcing the vessel to divert to Cyprus instead.
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