A young Syrian Jew was attacked and left with a head wound after his assailants saw he was wearing a Star of David pendant, it has been reported.

On Saturday evening, the 25-year-old man asked a group of people for a light for his cigarette in the Mitte district of Berlin who then pulled the cigarette from his mouth and punced him while shouting "antisemitic slurs", Deutsche Welle reported.

They then chased him and beat him to the ground but fled when passersby intervened. The victim is now recovering in hospital.

Police detained ten men and women, aged between 15 and 21 over the incident and released them pending an investigation. The ten included three Germans and six Syrians, the DW report said.

The incident comes two weeks after a 19-year-old Syrian man admitted assaulting an Arab Israeli man in Berlin who was wearing a kippah. But he denied his motives were antisemitic and claimed he had only seen the kippah after the assault began.