A hostel frequented by Israeli backpackers in Argentina's Patagonia region was attacked by local residents angered over loud music being played at the guest house, with attackers yelling that the Jews were stealing Patagonia.
According to reports received by the Foreign Ministry's situation room, a group of Israeli tourists threw a party, igniting the rage of neighbors who arrived at the hostel and pelted it with stones.
An owner of the Onda Azul hostel in the town near Puelo Lake in southern Argentina told AFP that the attackers, who appeared to be drunk, broke windows and stole money, luggage and cell phones while shouting anti-Semitic slogans. Some reports said that shots were fired.
The police managed to break up the party only after an hour and a half. The wounded, both officers and local citizens, were taken to the hospital. The owners of the hostel were also attacked, but did not require medical treatment. Israelis who were in the hostel at the time were unharmed.
The Israelis informed the Foreign Ministry of the attack as it was happening, saying that they had locked themselves inside a room in the hostel and were lying on the floor in order to protect themselves.
The attackers screamed profanities and yelled that the Jews were stealing Patagonia, area police commissioner Dario Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez described the attack as an isolated incident and not related to any political group.
The attackers, who were charged but not detained, were young people who had complained about noise from the hostel, Gonzalez said.
The attack forced the hostel, which hosts about 150 tourists at a time, to close temporarily.
AFP contribtued to this report.