UK police probe attack on Jewish ambulances / Photo: Henry NICHOLLS - AFP
UK police probe attack on Jewish ambulances
British police said they were investigating an online claim of responsibility for an arson attack after four volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation based next to a London synagogue were set on fire early Monday.
Here is what we know about the attack, in which four vehicles were destroyed, but no one was injured. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has denounced the incident as a "deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack".
- What happened? -
The London Fire Brigade said it was alerted to vehicles on fire at Highfield Court in Golders Green, a north London area with a substantial Jewish population, at 1:40 am (0140 GMT).
Some 40 firefighters called to the scene found that multiple cylinders on the vehicles had exploded, breaking windows in an adjacent block.
London's Metropolitan Police force said the charred vehicles were four Hatzalah ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service.
Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution while some roads in the area were closed. All the fires were extinguished.
The little-known Iran-aligned Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya group, meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, appeared to claim responsibility Monday in a video posted on its recently created Telegram channel.
- Police probe -
Police said in a statement "the arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime".
Counter-terrorism police are now leading the inquiry, even though it was not yet determined to be a terror attack. The group's online claim is being investigated.
"Establishing the authenticity and accuracy of this claim will be a priority for the investigation team," Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams told reporters at the scene.
He added police were "looking for three suspects at this early stage. CCTV footage appears to show three people in hoods pouring an accelerant on to the vehicles before igniting them and fleeing".
There have been no arrests so far, and police appealed to people to come forward with information.
- 'Horrific news' -
Starmer said in a post on X: "Antisemitism has no place in our society".
He called the attack "horrific news" and has urged Britain's communities to "all stand together at a moment like this".
Chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis vowed: "We're not going to be intimidated by terrorists, and this was a terrorist attack."
And he told the Press Association news agency it was "highly lamentable" that synagogues, schools and other Jewish facilities "can now only function behind walls, behind gates".
Shomrim North West London, a charity and volunteer neighbourhood watch group, branded the arson a "targeted and deeply concerning incident affecting a vital emergency service serving the local Jewish community".
It was "an attack on the safety, wellbeing, and resilience of our community," the group wrote on Facebook.
- What is the volunteer service? -
The ambulances are run by Hatzalah, which was established in 1979 and is operated by volunteers.
It provides free medical transportation and emergency response to those living in north London.
"Our... volunteer ambulance corps is an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike," Mirvis said on X.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government would provide four replacement ambulances.
"The Jewish community should not be left footing the bill for this despicable attack, which is why tomorrow morning, at the latest, we will have four ambulances in place to replace those that have been destroyed," he said.
- Similar attacks -
Monitoring groups have reported an upsurge in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain in recent years, particularly during the recent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Community Security Trust, a charity which tracks antisemitism in the UK, recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the UK last year, a four percent rise on 2024, but down on 2023.
The group likened the attack to recent similar incidents in Belgium and the Netherlands, where schools and synagogues were targeted.
The Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya group also claimed it was behind the attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands, according to the SITE monitoring service. Until the start of the Iran war, the group had not been heard of.
S.Bruno--MJ
