Police Probe Iran Link After Jewish Ambulances Set Ablaze in London

Security camera footage appeared to show three figures in black wearing hoods carrying a canister toward one of the ambulances before flames erupted around the vehicle. By the time London Fire Brigade crews arrived at Highfield Road in Golders Green just before 2 a.m. on Monday, four ambulances belonging to Jewish charity Hatzola Northwest had been set on fire, shattering windows in nearby homes and leaving the vehicles as charred shells.

A video posted on Telegram, allegedly by an Islamist group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, showed a map of the location where the ambulances were kept and footage of them on fire. The group had previously appeared in connection with attacks including an explosion at a Liège synagogue in Belgium, an Amsterdam Jewish school, and a Rotterdam synagogue, and is believed to be linked to Iranian-backed Shia Islamist factions in Iraq. Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said: "We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links." He cautioned, however, that "it is too early for me to attribute last night's attack in Golders Green to the Iranian state."

Though it has not been classified as a terrorist incident, counter-terror officers have been put in charge of the investigation. The London Fire Brigade, which sent six fire engines and 40 firefighters to the scene, said multiple oxygen cylinders on the vehicles exploded, causing windows to shatter in an adjacent apartment block. No one was injured and the fires in the car park next to Machzike Hadath Synagogue on Highfield Road were put out.

What appeared to be footage from a security camera showed the three suspects carrying a canister toward one of the ambulances before flames erupted. Police Superintendent Sarah Jackson, who leads policing in the Golders Green area, confirmed that investigators were "in the process of examining CCTV and are aware of online footage," adding: "We believe we are looking for three suspects at this early stage. There have been no arrests yet, and we would urge anyone with information to please contact us as soon as possible."

Mark Reisner, who lives in the neighborhood, heard loud explosions and arrived at the scene "just as the third ambulance was blowing up." He described "a very loud explosion, you sort of felt it go through your guts," saying the attack had "left us all reeling with confusion and shock."

Hatzolah is a volunteer-run, non-profit organisation that has provided free emergency medical care and transport to hospitals for the Jewish community in the capital since 1979. Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that the government will fund the replacement of all four ambulances, and said additional staff from the London Ambulance Service will support Hatzola in the meantime. Over half a million pounds had already been raised through fundraising pages opened in the wake of the attack.

Golders Green ward councillor Dean Cohen, who was at the scene, described the incident as "particularly chilling," saying it would "send shockwaves through our community at a time of already heightened fears over antisemitism in the UK." Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a "deeply shocking" attack and called for communities to "all stand together." Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis condemned the targeting of the volunteer service as "a particularly sickening assault, not only on the Jewish community, but on the values we share as a society," noting that Hatzola's "sole mission is to protect life, Jewish and non-Jewish alike."

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust, which works to protect the Jewish community. Rowley told the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust that "the rapid growth in recent years of Iranian state threats is grave." No arrests have been made, and the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command continues to examine CCTV and online footage as it works to verify the authenticity of the claim.