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A man assaulted two people who were speaking Hebrew in Berlin's Neukölln district, police said on Saturday, according to Germany’s dpa news agency.

According to the report, the man attacked a 27-year-old woman with a chair and punched her 24-year-old companion in the face. Police said the incident is being investigated by state security officials.

The two people were speaking to one another in Hebrew at a fast food restaurant in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to the details released so far. There were two men at the neighboring table, reportedly speaking Arabic to each other.

"When they realized what language the 27-year-old and the 24-year-old were using to communicate, one of the men is said to have made derogatory remarks towards them," the police statement said.

The woman and the man asked him to "refrain from making such remarks."

In response, the assailant, who is not previously known to the police, first threw an alcoholic drink in their direction and then became violent.

The woman fended off the chair attack with her arms. The man was punched in the face after he stood in front of her to protect her, according to dpa. The attacker then fled with his companion.

Neither of the victims required medical treatment.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the number of antisemitic crimes in Germany has risen sharply. The Federal Criminal Police Office has recorded more than 1,100 antisemitic offenses up to December 21.

In one incident, a synagogue in the German capital of Berlin was firebombed by two assailants. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

In late October, police in the western German city of Essen arrested a man who plotted to attack a pro-Israel demonstration.

On New Year’s Eve, a Berlin memorial to the Jewish children rescued from the Nazis was vandalized, including with images of a mosque.

Israel's Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, has called for a stronger response to growing antisemitism in Germany.

"The fact that Jews are afraid to wear a kippah on the street or speak on their cellphones in Hebrew, that simply cannot be. We have to wake up," Prosor told dpa in a recent interview.

"People who are afraid to take their children to school if the school is not protected: These are conditions that are not normal," warned the Ambassador. "The fear is really there."