Four Jewish community ambulances torched in north London in suspected antisemitic attack

Four ambulances used by a Jewish volunteer emergency service in north London were destroyed in a fire that police are investigating as a suspected antisemitic hate crime.

The Metropolitan Police said officers launched an investigation after the vehicles, linked to the Jewish Community Ambulance Service, were set on fire in Golders Green. Police said the incident was being treated as an arson attack with an antisemitic motive, and officers remained at the scene as inquiries continued. The ambulances belonged to Hatzola, a volunteer-run charity that provides emergency medical response within the community.

London Fire Brigade said it dispatched six fire engines and about 40 firefighters after receiving calls from residents in the early hours of Monday. During the blaze, several cylinders inside the vehicles exploded, sending debris outward and damaging windows in a nearby residential building. No injuries were reported.

Fire crews said the fire was brought under control just after 3am.

The attack has sparked alarm among Jewish community representatives. Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust, said the incident appeared to resemble other recent arson attacks targeting Jewish institutions in European cities such as Liège, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Jewish groups in Britain have reported a sustained rise in antisemitic incidents since the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed. Community organisations have repeatedly warned that Jewish people, religious spaces and public institutions have faced greater security risks during this period.

The latest attack is likely to intensify concerns over the safety of Jewish organisations in the UK as police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fire.