JERUSALEM, Dec 29: A pair of Israeli newlyweds described on Wednesday how a Palestinian couple came to their rescue during Thailand's tidal wave disaster, paying for them to fly back home after they had lost all their cash.

Yossi and Inbar Gross from Kiryat Gat, an Israeli town close to Tel Aviv, and Samy and Sally Khuri, from east Jerusalem, were staying in the same hotel in the island resort of Phuket.

After a romantic stroll on the beach Sunday, the Israeli couple went up their room only to find "a huge wave arriving," Yossi Gross told the Maariv newspaper after arriving back in Israel.

He and his wife managed to flee but their belongings, including money and passports, were washed away by the killer wave. The Khuris lent them the necessary cash to fly back to Israel. "It's simply an amazing couple. They paid for one hotel night and our plane tickets. It's wonderful," said Yossi Inbar. -AFP