Victim robbed at knifepoint, stabbed to death in Havana; his body to be returned to Israel via Canada, as Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba

Roee Nahmias

An Israeli tourist was murdered in Cuba Sunday while on vacation with his wife.

Initial details from the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem indicate that the man was stabbed to death a short time after leaving his hotel in Havana.

Local police said the couple left the hotel when they were attacked by about eight robbers. The couple was forcefully separated and the man was taken into an alley where he was robbed and stabbed to death.

It is not yet known whether the man was killed because he attempted to resist the criminals.

According to the Foreign Ministry, his body is to be returned to Israel via Canada, as Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Many Israelis have "discovered" Cuba as an ideal vacation spot in recent years. The communist country, headed by Fidel Castro, provides tourists with a charming holiday, but it also has a high rate of poverty and crime.