Israeli brother, sister arrested in Athens after attacked by Palestinians

A 29-year-old Israeli and his sister were attacked on Saturday by three Palestinian men in Syntagma Square in Athens while on vacation, Hebrew media reported.

Six plastic poles and Palestinian flags that were found in the possessions of the Palestinians were confiscated by the police, Greek media reported.

All five persons involved in the incident were arrested by Greek authorities.

“At Syntagma Square, in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a confrontation occurred between five foreigners. Two Israeli citizens—a 30-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man—clashed with three Palestinian men aged 27, 26, and 25,” Athens police said, according to Ynet.

Israel’s broadcaster Channel 13 reported that the two siblings were still in custody under difficult conditions.

The brother, who is a disabled Israel Defense Forces veteran, was initially held in a cell with Muslim detainees, the report stated.

His father, visiting him in detention, “created a scene,” according to the report, after which the son was transferred to a solitary cell “without much food.”

Channel 13 presented still images of the Israeli, his face blurred, that showed red scars at the front and back of his head.

Speaking with the Israeli broadcaster, his father described the incident over the phone.

The Palestinians “saw them in the square, probably identified them as Jews, I don’t know how, and started hitting them. They scratched his back, dropped him on the floor and hit him with their flag [poles],” the father said.

The father moreover related that his son was “all shaking. They put him in a cell with 10 Arabs. They almost killed him. I started yelling and they transferred him to a separate cell. His whole body is bruised. Poor boy! And there’s no one here to treat him,” per Channel 13.

Footage of the incident surfaced on social media.

Former spokesman for the State of Israel Elon Levy posted the video on X, writing: “October 7 is a global war against Jews & Israelis.”

There has been an increase in the number of attacks and protests against Israelis in Greece in recent months. In July, an Israeli tourist was attacked by a group of Syrian migrants at a beach near Athens, with one of them biting off a part of his ear.

The Israeli was taken to a local medical center for treatment, but was arrested in his hospital room in light of the attacker’s filing a complaint against him for alleged “racist remarks,” the report added.

On July 23, a group of Israeli teenagers was attacked on the Greek island of Rhodes by dozens of pro-Palestinian assailants, some reportedly armed with knives.

A day prior to this incident, Israeli cruise ship passengers were barred from disembarking on another Greek island—Syros—because of pro-Palestinian protests at Ermoupoli Port, where demonstrators accused the Jewish state of genocide in its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Local police there failed to contain roughly 150 protesters, leading the ship to divert to the Cypriot city of Limassol.

Greece’s Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis promised that anyone who tried to prevent a foreign national from legally entering the country would “face prosecution, arrest and then criminal proceedings under the anti-racism law.”