Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community ambulance service in London were set on fire in what police are treating as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
Police said they received reports of explosions linked to gas canisters on the ambulances early on Monday. No one was injured and the fires in the car park next to Machzike Hadath Synagogue on Highfield Road, Golders Green, were put out. Residents were asked to leave nearby houses and roads in the area were closed.
Golders Green has a large Jewish community, with more than 30 synagogues.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as “deeply shocking”.
Metropolitan Police superintendent Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the area, said: “We know this incident will cause a great deal of community concern and officers remain on scene to carry out urgent inquiries.
“We are in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage. We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage. There have been no arrests yet.
“We will be engaging with faith leaders and carrying out additional patrols in the local area as we continue our investigation to provide reassurance and a highly visible presence.”
Responsibility for the attacks has been claimed by a new group calling itself Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right or Ashab al Yamin.
The social media activity was directed through channels linked to Iraqi Shiite militia groups that are aligned to Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
One of the channels has now claimed Ashab al Yamin is behind the arson and posted a message with the group's logo.
The footage accompanying the message doesn't show any individuals carrying out the attack, in contrast to ones posted after recent attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The ambulances belonged to the volunteer-run charity Hatzola, which was established in 1979, providing medical transport free of charge for residents of North London.
“This is a sickening attack on Jewish ambulances,” UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in a post on X. “Thank goodness there appear to be no injuries. We must stand together against anti-Semitic hatred.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis condemned the incident in a statement on X. “The deliberate arson attacks against Hatzola ambulances in London are a particularly sickening assault – not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society,” he said. “Our Hatzola volunteer ambulance corps is an extraordinary service, whose sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
“The targeting of Hatzola by people so committed to terror, hatred and the desecration of life is a most painful illustration of the ongoing battle between those who sanctify life and those who seek to destroy it.”
He said the Jewish community would “meet this moment with shared resolve and stand together against hatred and intimidation”.
Shomrim, a non-profit organisation that operates a neighbourhood watch in Golders Green, said it was “aware of loud explosions” early on Monday morning. The fire brigade said about 40 firefighters were sent to the area where cylinders on the vehicles exploded, causing windows to break in nearby homes.
Golders Green ward councillor Dean Cohen, who was at the scene, told Jewish News it was “particularly chilling” that the incident happened in a synagogue car park. It will send “shock waves through our community at a time of already heightened fears over anti-Semitism in the UK”.
Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, said the attack “has obvious comparisons to similar anti-Semitic arson attacks recently in Belgium and the Netherlands”. Last week, The National reported that a fifth suspect was arrested by Dutch police as part of an investigation into an explosion at a synagogue.
The blast in Rotterdam followed an attack on a Jewish school in Amsterdam and the firebombing of a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liege.
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who is on a trip to San Francisco to meet the FBI, said the UK faces a “long and sustained threat” from Iranian plots, citing MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum’s assessment that there were more than 20 Iranian-backed plots in the UK in the previous 12 months.
Mr Rowley said some had been targeted at members of the Iranian diaspora while other were against Israeli or Jewish targets.
Security around synagogues and Jewish schools has been increased since terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October. Three people were killed, including the attacker who was shot dead by police.
The government has since pledged to invest an extra £10m in security measures such as CCTV, alarms and floodlights.
Religious hate crime in the UK is at a record level, with figures showing that Jewish people are more targeted than any other group. According to the Community Security Trust, there were 3,700 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded in 2025, a four per cent annual.
More than 6,000 incidents of anti-Muslim hate were recorded in 2024 by the monitoring agency Tell Mama, doubled the number of two years previously.
Earlier this month, the UK adopted a new definition of anti-Muslim hostility as part of a broader strategy to tackle rising hate crime.
The UK charity regulator will also receive new powers to address extremism and the promotion of hatred.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed said the government had a responsibility to respond to record levels of Islamophobia and was adopting a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility.
While the definition does not refer to Islamophobia by name, it designates anti-Muslim hostility as “intentionally engaging in, assisting or encouraging criminal acts … that are directed at Muslims because of their religion”.
