Four Hatzola Ambulances Torched in London Antisemitic Hate Crime Attack

Arsonists set four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a volunteer Jewish community emergency service, ablaze at Highfield Court in Golders Green, northwest London, in the early hours of Sunday, with police declaring the attack an antisemitic hate crime.

Residents called emergency services at around 1:40 a.m. GMT. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "An investigation has been launched after four ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service were set on fire in Golders Green. Officers remain on scene and the arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime."

The scale of the fire required a significant response. The London Fire Brigade deployed six fire engines and 40 firefighters to the scene. Multiple cylinders on the vehicles exploded, shattering windows in an adjacent residential block. Nearby houses were evacuated as a precaution. The LFB brought the fire under control by 3:06 a.m. GMT. No injuries were reported.

Police are moving quickly on the evidence trail. Superintendent Sarah Jackson said officers are "examining CCTV and are aware of online footage," adding: "We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage." No arrests had been made at the time of reporting. Jackson acknowledged the broader fallout: "We know this incident will cause a great deal of community concern and officers remain on scene to carry out urgent enquiries." Police have engaged with local faith leaders and increased patrols in the area.

Hatzola, also spelled Hatzolah, is a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides free emergency medical response and hospital transportation, serving predominantly Jewish communities. It has operated in the Golders Green area since 1979, a neighborhood home to one of London's largest Jewish populations.

A local resident told the BBC he was woken by an explosion shortly after 1:30 a.m. and described the scene as "arsonists targeting the ambulances in our community."

The attack comes against a backdrop of rising antisemitic violence in Britain and internationally. Since the Hamas attacks that triggered the Gaza war, antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom have increased sharply. The most severe antisemitic attack in Britain last year was a Manchester assault that killed two Jewish worshippers during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The deliberate targeting of Hatzola amplifies the symbolic weight of the attack. The service exists solely to save lives, operating on volunteer labor and charitable funding to provide care that state services cannot always reach quickly enough within tight-knit Jewish communities. Destroying four of its vehicles degrades that capacity directly.

Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward. Hatzola had not issued a public comment at the time of reporting.