An arson attack targeting ambulances operated by a Jewish charity in north London is being investigated by counter-terrorism officers, police have said, amid concerns over a possible hate crime.

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Four vehicles belonging to Hatzola were set on fire in the Golders Green area in the early hours of Monday. The blaze caused several explosions due to gas canisters stored inside the ambulances, although no injuries were reported.

Investigation Focuses on Possible Motives

The Metropolitan Police said the incident is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime. Detectives are examining CCTV footage that appears to show three individuals dressed in dark clothing pouring accelerant onto the vehicles before igniting them and fleeing.

Commissioner Mark Rowley said officers were exploring multiple lines of inquiry, including whether those responsible may have links to groups connected to the Iranian state. He stressed, however, that it was too early to draw firm conclusions.

Authorities also confirmed that the incident has not formally been declared a terrorist attack at this stage.

An online claim of responsibility by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya is being assessed, though police said its authenticity remains unverified.

Community Impact and Emergency Response

Fire crews from the London Fire Brigade were called to the scene shortly before 02:00 and brought the blaze under control within two hours. Explosions caused by heated cylinders damaged nearby residential buildings, forcing around 30 people to seek temporary shelter.

Residents described fleeing their homes after hearing loud blasts. The ambulances were parked near a synagogue, heightening concerns within the local Jewish community.

Hatzola, a volunteer-run organisation providing free emergency medical services, has operated in the area since 1979. Its vehicles are used to respond to urgent medical calls and transport patients to hospital.

Political and Public Reaction

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the attack as a “wicked crime” and urged anyone with information to come forward. She said perpetrators would be pursued and brought to justice.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government would fund the replacement of the destroyed ambulances and reiterated the need to confront rising antisemitism.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the incident a “dark day” for the city, stressing the importance of solidarity with the Jewish community.

In response, police have increased patrols in affected areas, including deploying additional officers and armed units to protect vulnerable sites. Investigators have also launched an online portal to collect public evidence.

Wider Concerns Over Rising Antisemitism

The attack comes amid reports of increasing antisemitic incidents in the UK, particularly since the escalation of conflict in the Middle East. Community leaders expressed alarm at the targeting of a service dedicated to saving lives.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis described the attack as “particularly sickening,” noting that Hatzola serves people of all backgrounds.

Fundraising efforts to replace the damaged vehicles have already raised more than £1m, while emergency services have pledged support to ensure continued response capabilities.

Police said investigations remain ongoing, with all potential motives and connections under review.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 24 March 2026

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Hm. Wait...weren't those Red Crescent ambulances?

And what makes an ambulance Jewish in the UK???

3 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Hm. Wait...weren't those Red Crescent ambulances?

And what makes an ambulance Jewish in the UK???

You're thinking of the ambulances in Gaza that the IDF buried, after killing the rescue workers, then lied they didn't have their lights on. Of course, there are no consequences for Israeli war crimes....unless the people who did this call it a revenge attack, if they think people in that community are supporting Israel financially or otherwise.

I'd think it would be quite easy not to have any Jewish references splashed on the side of the vehicle so they didn't get singled out? Or have St. John on them to go incognito.

Does one dial a special number to get a Jewish one?

Or does one simply show up it it is the nearest one?

Unless British Jews stop supporting Israel, sadly, with all the Muslims in the UK, these types of attacks will get get worse. Do British Jews financially help the rogue nation? Seemingly, most do.

The crazy illegal attacks, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, Apartheid, blockade, annexation by Israel will have consequences worldwide.

Interesting that an attack that killed no one gets more headlines than children killed by Israel in the last few days...

Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, at least 60% of British Jews have donated to a charity supporting Israel, according to a report by the Institute for Jewish Policy

https://www.jpr.org.uk/insights/what-exactly-jewish-majority-view-israel#:~:text=These%20are%20all%20'majority'%20views,feel%20a%20bit%20of%20both.

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Does one dial a special number to get a Jewish one?

Yes, they are only in Jewish communities though.

10 minutes ago, JimCM said:

Yes, they are only in Jewish communities though.

Thats a gross distortion.

Like many private ambulance services in the UK, they are regional (North London).

1 hour ago, JimCM said:

Unless British Jews stop supporting Israel, sadly, with all the Muslims in the UK, these types of attacks will get get worse. Do British Jews financially help the rogue nation? Seemingly, most do.

The crazy illegal attacks, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, Apartheid, blockade, annexation by Israel will have consequences worldwide.

Interesting that an attack that killed no one gets more headlines than children killed by Israel in the last few days...

Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, at least 60% of British Jews have donated to a charity supporting Israel, according to a report by the Institute for Jewish Policy

https://www.jpr.org.uk/insights/what-exactly-jewish-majority-view-israel#:~:text=These%20are%20all%20'majority'%20views,feel%20a%20bit%20of%20both.

When you disparagingly refer to charities that "support Israel", which charities? Are you suggesting that munitions are paid for by a whip around at the pub? <deleted>. Your anti-Jew views are such you cannot distinguish between the actions of a government and a nation. Get a grip. You're not even a muslim.

You have deliberately distorted the tone of the JPR article to support your Anti-Semitic view of the world. The article also states:

JPR data from summer 2024 show that 70% of British Jews think that Jews who don’t live in Israel should be free to publicly criticise Israel’s government or its policies. And 76% ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ disapprove of Netanyahu; 74% think he prioritises his own personal interests over those of the State of Israel as a whole. 62% feel the Israeli government hasn’t done enough to secure the release of the hostages, 52% feel it hasn’t done enough to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans, and 74% see Israel’s overall situation as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’. These are all ‘majority’ views held by over half of British Jews.

You have constantly pushed an anti-Jew agenda on this forum, possibly for the LOLZ.

Supporting charities in Israel doesn't mean endorsement of the Israeli government, any more than money in the envelope for the RSPCA or Samaritans means you are supporting UK government's repositioning of income tax rates. Or indeed supporting a muslim charity in Britain means you must be a suicide bummer enthusiast.

I reckon you will have to go off and Google for all these Jewish charities that are buying bombs and bullets. Guess what, like many other charities you will find an incredible range, some of which you will agree with the objectives, some of which you will profoundly disagree.

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

I'd think it would be quite easy not to have any Jewish references splashed on the side of the vehicle so they didn't get singled out? Or have St. John on them to go incognito.

Does one dial a special number to get a Jewish one?

Or does one simply show up it it is the nearest one?

While this service does not have a NHS constract (St John does), they are in the 999 system.

The livery on the ambulances would make no difference (and the livery isn't really that obvious. They look like normal ambulances. Their sister service in the US is a bit different though, but ambulance livery in the US is a bit of a mess). The attack was made at their depot, and like every charity, they need to provide an address.

37 minutes ago, Roadsternut said:

When you disparagingly refer to charities that "support Israel", which charities? Are you suggesting that munitions are paid for by a whip around at the pub? <deleted>. Your anti-Jew views are such you cannot distinguish between the actions of a government and a nation. Get a grip. You're not even a muslim.

You have deliberately distorted the tone of the JPR article to support your Anti-Semitic view of the world. The article also states:

You have constantly pushed an anti-Jew agenda on this forum, possibly for the LOLZ.

Supporting charities in Israel doesn't mean endorsement of the Israeli government, any more than money in the envelope for the RSPCA or Samaritans means you are supporting UK government's repositioning of income tax rates. Or indeed supporting a muslim charity in Britain means you must be a suicide bummer enthusiast.

I reckon you will have to go off and Google for all these Jewish charities that are buying bombs and bullets. Guess what, like many other charities you will find an incredible range, some of which you will agree with the objectives, some of which you will profoundly disagree.

I agree completely but argue for transparency as to where the funds are going and to be used for what.

Unfortunately, the bulk of donations for any charity, e.g., Red Cross, Cancer Society, go to administrative expences. What's left over goes to the cause.

I'm glad to read those stats, too. Though the idea that only Jews outside Israel can afford to criticise is rather chilling, don't you think.

1 hour ago, Roadsternut said:

When you disparagingly refer to charities that "support Israel", which charities? Are you suggesting that munitions are paid for by a whip around at the pub? <deleted>. Your anti-Jew views are such you cannot distinguish between the actions of a government and a nation. Get a grip. You're not even a muslim.

You have deliberately distorted the tone of the JPR article to support your Anti-Semitic view of the world. The article also states:

You have constantly pushed an anti-Jew agenda on this forum, possibly for the LOLZ.

Supporting charities in Israel doesn't mean endorsement of the Israeli government, any more than money in the envelope for the RSPCA or Samaritans means you are supporting UK government's repositioning of income tax rates. Or indeed supporting a muslim charity in Britain means you must be a suicide bummer enthusiast.

I reckon you will have to go off and Google for all these Jewish charities that are buying bombs and bullets. Guess what, like many other charities you will find an incredible range, some of which you will agree with the objectives, some of which you will profoundly disagree.

That’s a serious accusation - so back it up.

Show one single post where I’ve expressed hatred toward Jews as a people, their religion, or their identity. Just one. You won’t be able to, because criticising a government - any government - is not the same as attacking an entire ethnic or religious group. Deliberately blurring that line is dishonest.

You’ve also twisted what I said about charities. Questioning how financial support relates to a state’s actions in a conflict is entirely legitimate. It does not magically become “antisemitic” just because you don’t like the point being made.

What you’re doing is trying to shut down debate by throwing out a loaded accusation with no evidence behind it. That’s not an argument - it’s a smear.

And let’s be clear: making false accusations that damage someone’s reputation is defamation. In Thailand, that’s not something to toss around lightly.

So either produce clear evidence of antisemitism from me, or withdraw the claim

1 hour ago, JimCM said:

That’s a serious accusation - so back it up.

You hate Jews own it.

1 hour ago, JimCM said:

That’s a serious accusation - so back it up.

Show one single post where I’ve expressed hatred toward Jews as a people, their religion, or their identity. Just one. You won’t be able to, because criticising a government - any government - is not the same as attacking an entire ethnic or religious group. Deliberately blurring that line is dishonest.

You’ve also twisted what I said about charities. Questioning how financial support relates to a state’s actions in a conflict is entirely legitimate. It does not magically become “antisemitic” just because you don’t like the point being made.

What you’re doing is trying to shut down debate by throwing out a loaded accusation with no evidence behind it. That’s not an argument - it’s a smear.

And let’s be clear: making false accusations that damage someone’s reputation is defamation. In Thailand, that’s not something to toss around lightly.

So either produce clear evidence of antisemitism from me, or withdraw the claim

A lot of your posts I agree with, but increasingly, perhaps because of passion, you are crossing a dangerous line repeating various stereotypes, dehumanizing language, support of collective punishments, which do fit in with the benchmarks set by the Internation Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

You stated British Jews were sending money to charities in Israel support Israel, and by implication,support of Israel means support of Israeli government policy. You deliberately sought to mislead by selectively quoting a report that showed British Jews, on the whole, do not support Israeli government policy. You consistantly conflate the country of Israel with the government of Israel. I think its not reasonable to associate all charitable contributions with a political stance.

I can only judge you by the statements you made, but maybe you make these statements for shock, and for the LOLZ

You stated, in reference to the location of the ambulances, and in answer to a question whether a special number is needed to get one:

Yes, they are only in Jewish communities though

This is a falsehood. There ambulances respond to the 999 system. There is no such thing as a "Jewish area" in Britain. Yes, there might be areas wherre there are higher numbers of Roman Catholics, Presbeterians, Jews etc. But places like Stamford Hill and North Finchley are not "Jewish Communities". These ambulances serve the entire communities where they are based. Golders Green, a tiny area, is 49% Jewishh, North Finchley is about 21%. You are painting a false picture about thse ambulances, implying they are sectarian.

In https://aseannow.com/topic/1387669-anti-zionists-target-jewish-childrens-camps/page/3/#findComment-20385179

You stated:

Respect, I applaud you. However, the Israel society obviously want and agree with his racist policies, and his buddies Smotrich and Ben Gvir. Despicable creatures.

in response to a comment where the poster stated he doesn't support the policies of Netanyahu. You've described Israeli society as "despicable creatures", and how they want an agree with racist policies. The use of the word "creatures" is dehumanizing. Call them despicable people, fine, but you've associated them with animals. On a 70% turnout, about 23% of the population voted for Likud in 2022. The percentage of the voting electorate that voted for the parties in the coalition is 48%. And within that now minority coalition , not all will share the same policies and views. If they did, they would be in Likud. Given the legislative election, and the complexity of the coalition, I say its not at all clear that "Israel society" (sic) obviously want and agree with these policies. 52% didn't vote for those parties.

If referring to a people as "creatures" isn't at least racist then I don't know what is.

In:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1387669-anti-zionists-target-jewish-childrens-camps/page/3/#findComment-20385233

In response to "BangkokHank", who has been censured for various offensive statements I believe:

Great post that none of the Israels will be answering.

They believe they care superior to all others .

The days of not being able to criticise a Jew are long gone. Notice on many other threads people criticism Muslims and it acceptable

You are echoing a classic antisemitic trope about Jewish superiority, and applying a negative stereotype to an entire peoples. A trope that you repeat:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1375092-is-israel-a-lunatic-state/#findComment-20133979

In various posts, such as

https://aseannow.com/topic/1388751-anti-semitic-incidents-happening-almost-daily-in-ireland/page/2/#findComment-20406396

you imply collective punishment of an entire people, somewhat ambiguously.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1387669-anti-zionists-target-jewish-childrens-camps/page/3/#findComment-20385233

The days of not being able to criticise a Jew are long gone

Group based framing antisemitism; you uggest Jews were previously shielded from criticism as a group, which really isn't true.

In

https://aseannow.com/topic/1387669-anti-zionists-target-jewish-childrens-camps/page/2/#findComment-20385176

You state

Jewish yanks have to tell the kids the truth so they will stop financing Genocidal Israel.

You generalised about Jewish Americans funding wrongdoing, and reinforcing stereotypes about coordinated Jewish influence.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1379205-israel-committed-to-ethnically-cleanse/#findComment-20229714

You conflated Jewishness with terrorism.

You repeatedly conflate the increase in antisemitism with Israeli government policy, ie trying to frame prejudice against Jews as something that is both a reasonable reaction, but something that is not an independant prejudice.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1385082-us-considering-asylum-for-british-jews/page/9/#findComment-20357639

People don't suddenly become anti-semitic, they always were, but new reports embolden them to voice their existing prejudices.

You have been previously told you are posting anti-semitic comments. And your response has been the same, such as downplaying it ("clutching at straws") or being challenging, or attempting to redirect. You repeatedly infer that antisemitism is context specific or reactive, when its neither. You repeatedly have said antisemitism is the fault of the Jewish people (ie. its their actions that cause prejudice, bit like blaming an African for being black as the cause of racism). You use rhetoric to compare Israel (jewish people) to Nazis; they are not remotely comparable. Never once have you said you've been misunderstood, or that you didn't put your point across clearly.

If you say these statements were in error or poorly phrased by yourself, happy to retract. If you keep to the topics of defending the rights of Palestinian people you will do much better.

It seems Hatzola Northwest has a lot of community support.

More than half a million raised for Hatzola NW within hours of firebomb ambulance attack

Thousands of people have donated money to the Hatzola NW charity after four of their Golders Green-based ambulances were targeted in a firebombing overnight, with more than half a million pounds donated in the space of a few hours.

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/more-than-half-a-million-raised-for-hatzola-nw-within-hours-of-firebomb-ambulance-attack/

Some background:

What is Hatzola and who does it treat?

A Jewish volunteer ambulance service that provides free emergency care to patients of all backgrounds has been targeted in a suspected antisemitic attack.

Hatzola, or Hatzalah – meaning rescue in Hebrew – is a volunteer-led emergency medical charity operating in partnership with the NHS.

Founded to provide rapid, round-the-clock care free of charge, its responders are often first on the scene of medical emergencies, working alongside the NHS ambulance service and arriving within minutes.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/what-is-hatzola-dkf5ccpb