Swiss police have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of stabbing an orthodox man in Zurich.

The Swiss Organisation Of Jewish Communities said the 50-year-old victim is in hospital with serious injuries after being attacked on Shabbat. 

In a statement the group said: "Physical attacks on Jewish people in Switzerland are very rare.

"The Jewish community has been spared from such life-threatening attacks for the past two decades.

"However, there has been a significant increase in such physical attacks since 7 October."

According to reports witnesses said the attacker shouted “death to the Jews”.

The European Jewish Congress said: “We are horrified and disgusted by the news that a visibly orthodox Jewish man was seriously injured last night in a stabbing attack by a teenager in Zurich, Switzerland.

“Witnesses said the attacker shouted antisemitic statements before and during the attack such as “death to the Jews”.

“There's a disturbing trend of leveraging the Palestinian cause as justification for targeting Jews.

“We wish the victim a speedy recovery and trust the authorities will shed light on the true motives of the attacker. Such hate has no place in our society.”

In February, Britain’s Community Security Trust said the number of antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high last year.

CST recorded 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2023, up from the previous annual record of 2,261 two years earlier.

It said the increase was down to the "sheer volume of antisemitism perpetrated across the UK following Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October".