Demonstrators participate in a pro-Palestinian protest in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on Nov. 23, 2024. Photo: Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect

An American Orthodox Jewish couple was physically assaulted in Venice by a group of anti-Israel agitators, drawing condemnation from the city’s mayor amid a surge of antisemitic incidents targeting Italy’s Jewish community.

Last weekend, a Jewish couple was walking through Venice in traditional Orthodox clothing when three assailants confronted them, shouted insults including “Free Palestine,” and physically attacked them, slapping both.

According to local Italian reports, authorities apprehended the three assailants, who are believed to be of North African origin. Two of them were issued expulsion orders and the third was deported.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro strongly condemned the incident as a “serious and unacceptable act,” assuring the local Jewish community of the city’s commitment to their safety.

“Venice is and must continue to be an open, welcoming, and safe city, where mutual respect forms the foundation of civil coexistence,” Brugnaro said in a post on X.

“The aggression suffered by two American citizens of Jewish faith is a serious and unacceptable act, which I condemn with the utmost firmness,” he continued.

The local Jewish community also denounced the attack, pointing to the escalating climate of intolerance and the targeted incidents they have experienced since the start of the war in Gaza.

“Reiterating its condemnation of this vile and ignoble act, the Jewish community emphasizes that episodes like these certainly raise questions about Venice’s role as a welcoming city, while a climate of intolerance is emerging that today affects the entire Venetian community,” the statement read.

This incident follows another attack on a Jewish couple in Venice last month, when a man and his pregnant wife were harassed near the city center by three unknown individuals.

The attackers approached the couple, shouting antisemitic insults and calling the husband a “dirty Jew,” while physically assaulting them by throwing water and spitting on them.

One of the assailants later set his dog on the couple in an attempt to intimidate them before the group stole their phones.

These incidents come amid a surge in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment across Europe and around the world since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In Italy, Jewish individuals have been facing a surge in hostility and targeted attacks, including vandalism of murals and businesses, as well as physical assaults. Community leaders have warned that such incidents are becoming more frequent amid growing tensions related to the war in Gaza.

Earlier this summer, a Jewish man from France and his child were verbally assaulted at a gas station near Milan by a group of pro-Palestinian activists who shouted antisemitic slurs after seeing the child wearing a kippah, yelling phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “murderers” as they passed by.

In a separate incident, a masked individual targeted a synagogue in Rome, spray-painting a swastika and antisemitic slogans — “Sieg Heil” (“Hail Victory”) and “Juden Raus” (“Jews Out”) — on a sign near the entrance.

In May, a restaurant in Naples forced an Israeli family to leave, telling them, “Zionists are not welcome here.”

Earlier this year, a homeless Egyptian man in Rome attacked a Jewish boy and injured a shopkeeper who tried to intervene. In a separate incident, anti-Israel protesters defaced a synagogue with graffiti reading “Justice for a Free Gaza.”

Last year, a hotel manager in Rome canceled an Israeli couple’s reservation just one day before their trip, accusing them of genocide and telling them the hotel would “be happy to grant free cancellation.”

“We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure,” the hotel manager told the Israeli couple.