Greek police protect Israeli tourists after pro-Hamas protesters try to breach hotel: report

Police in Athens, Greece, reportedly protected Israeli tourists on Tuesday, after pro-Hamas demonstrators attempted to breach the hotel the tourists were staying at.

Greece has witnessed multiple pro-Palestine protests since the start of the Oct. 7 war between Israel and Hamas, including one protest march that featured 10,000 participants walking together to the Israeli embassy in October. Pro-Hamas protests have also erupted in other countries, including at college campuses in the United States.

The police officers on Tuesday were dispatched to the hotel to break up the violent mob, according to the Foreign Desk, and officers allegedly used unknown crowd control devices to control the crowd.

It comes after reports that the local police broke up roughly 300 protesters outside of the country's parliamentary building, who were protesting Israel's invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah, which began Monday. Police also broke up another protest outside of the Egyptian embassy on Tuesday, where they had to use chemical agents and flash-bang grenades, after Israeli forces claimed they secured the border between Palestine and Egypt. 

The invasion comes after Hamas reportedly agreed to a ceasefire proposal on Monday, but Israel said the proposal fell short of its demands, so it launched strikes on the city, which it said was intended to weaken the terrorist organization's military capabilities. Israel said it plans to still allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and has evacuated the “vast majority” of staff of international aid organizations, according to the Washington Post.