A 24-year-old Israeli man was seriously injured in what appears to have been an antisemitic attack in Limassol, Cyprus, after he was heard speaking Hebrew. Dor Twito, from Sderot, was stabbed in the eye and severely beaten by two unidentified individuals and had to be airlifted back to Israel for emergency surgery.
The assault took place on Saturday evening while Twito was staying with a friend at the City of Dreams hotel, a popular tourist destination. According to his account, the two attackers approached after recognizing the language he was speaking. One of them then struck him in the eye with a sharp object, after which both men continued to beat him, even after he had fallen to the ground. His friend, who attempted to help him, was also assaulted.
Twito reported that hotel security personnel did not intervene and that medical assistance was delayed. After being taken to a local hospital, he was reportedly told that the necessary treatment could not be provided there. He was subsequently transferred to Israel, where he underwent emergency surgery at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. “His eye was in critical condition,” his father said. A second complex operation succeeded in saving his retina.
The family says it contacted both the Israeli embassy and Cypriot authorities, but no suspects have yet been arrested. “We will not stop until justice is done. My son was attacked solely because he was speaking Hebrew,” his father stated.
