An Iran-linked militant group claimed it carried out an arson attack on four Jewish ambulances in London early Monday, the latest in a string of strikes on Jewish sites across Europe.
The group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, posted a video through networks tied to Tehran’s Axis of Resistance proxies asserting it had targeted the Machzike Hadath synagogue in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, the Daily Wire reported. The actual damage, however, fell on ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer emergency service parked in the synagogue’s lot.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers responded to Highfield Road in Golders Green around 1:45 a.m. after the London Fire Brigade reported a fire. Security cameras allegedly captured three hooded figures approaching the vehicles, pouring a flammable substance on them and running from the scene, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams. Oxygen canisters aboard the ambulances detonated, forcing the evacuation of 34 nearby residents. No injuries were reported. (RELATED: Explosion Striking Jewish School Was ‘A Deliberate Attack,’ Mayor Says)
Williams said verifying the online claim would be a top priority but stressed police could not authenticate it yet. Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation, yet authorities still have not classified the incident as terrorism, opting instead to label it an antisemitic hate crime. The Metropolitan Police did not offer additional comment beyond its initial statement when reached by The Daily Caller.
Statement by Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams following an antisemitic arson attack in Golders Green overnight. pic.twitter.com/S66joyzzPB
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 23, 2026
The group has also taken credit for a synagogue bombing in Liege, Belgium, on March 9, along with attacks on a Rotterdam synagogue and an Amsterdam Jewish school days later, Reuters reported. Dutch prosecutors confirmed that claims made by the organization were part of their investigation into the Amsterdam and Rotterdam attacks.
The Netherlands-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism went further, openly questioning whether the group is a legitimate organization at all or simply a shell for Iranian hybrid warfare meant to shield Tehran from direct accountability, Agence France-Press reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the arson “a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack,” Reuters reported. Health Minister Wes Streeting pledged the government would fund replacement vehicles.
Hatzola, a nonprofit volunteer ambulance corps founded in Brooklyn in the 1960s, serves both Jewish and non-Jewish patients alongside Britain’s National Health Service. Violence targeting Jewish communities around the world has escalated sharply since Hamas launched its October 2023 assault on Israel, according to Reuters.
