Counter-terror police probe arson attack near north London Jewish shops

Counter-terror police were leading an investigation on Friday night after a man was seen approaching a row of shops in Hendon, north London, carrying a plastic bag with bottles of fluid, placing it by a building, lighting it and fleeing.

Officers were called at 10.31pm to the former premises of Jewish Futures, where signage with the charity’s name still remained in the window. The bottles failed to fully ignite, there were no injuries, and the damage was limited to the shopfront, but the location immediately sharpened concern in a neighborhood already on edge.

The Metropolitan Police said the case was not being formally treated as a terrorist incident and that detectives were keeping an open mind about motive. Counter Terrorism Policing London said the similarities to other recent fires in north-west London, and the sensitive setting near a Jewish community site, meant specialist officers were leading the inquiry anyway.

The site is about two miles from the Golders Green arson attack last month, when four Hatzola ambulances were set on fire around 1.45am on March 23 in the car park of a synagogue. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution and 34 residents were displaced. Police said CCTV appeared to show three hooded suspects pouring accelerant before igniting the vehicles and fleeing, and the case was treated as an antisemitic hate crime while not yet formally declared terrorism.

Hendon MP David Pinto-Duschinsky said the latest attack would “undoubtedly add to the concerns” of the area’s large Jewish community. Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said he understood the fear the incident would cause and promised an enhanced, bespoke policing plan with more officers, specialist officers and highly visible armed patrols across vulnerable areas.

The Golders Green case has already produced arrests and charges. Hamza Iqbal, Rehan Khan and a 17-year-old boy were charged on April 3 with arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, and a fourth person, Judex Atshatshi, was charged on April 17 in connection with the same investigation.

The anxiety is unfolding against a wider rise in antisemitic harm in Britain. The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025, the second-highest annual total it has ever recorded, up 4% from 3,556 in 2024 and still well above levels seen before October 7, 2023. Office for National Statistics data shows 287,360 people identified as Jewish in England and Wales in Census 2021, with 53.6% living in London, while Barnet had 56,616 Jewish residents, the largest Jewish population of any local authority in England and Wales.