Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish group set on fire in London for alleged anti-Semitic hate crime

London – London police are investigating an alleged anti-Semitic hate crime after vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service were set on fire early Monday morning.

Officers were called to Golders Green, a London neighborhood with a large Jewish population, after receiving reports of a fire.

According to London firefighters, four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, a volunteer organization that provides emergency medical responses, were damaged. Photos from the scene show several of the ambulances completely destroyed, leaving only piles of blackened remains.

Multiple oxygen tanks in the vehicles exploded, causing windows to break in an adjacent block of residences, it said in a statement, adding that no injuries have been reported and the fire has been brought under control.

The causes of the fire are being investigated, authorities said. Security camera video showed three people running across the street to where the ambulances were parked and appearing to set them on fire.

“We know this incident will cause significant concern in the community and officers remain at the scene to carry out urgent investigations,” Police Superintendent Sarah Jackson said.

He added that police are searching for three suspects but no arrests have been made yet.

Police said reports of explosions were linked to ambulance gas canisters. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.

Mark Reisner, a witness who lives in the neighborhood, heard loud explosions and arrived at the scene “just as the third ambulance was exploding,” he told Sky News.

“A very loud explosion, you kind of felt like it went through your gut,” he said, adding, “it left us all stunned with confusion and shock.”

Shomrim, a nonprofit organization that operates a neighborhood watch in the area, condemned the attack.

“This was not just a criminal act of arson, but a targeted and deeply disturbing incident affecting a vital emergency service serving the local Jewish community,” he said in a post on X.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the incident, calling it a “deeply shocking anti-Semitic arson attack,” adding that “anti-Semitism has no place in our society,” according to the Reuters news service.

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, leader of the Anglican Church, said “such acts of violence, hatred and intimidation have no place in our society.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called it a “disgusting assault.”

“At a time when Jewish communities around the world are facing a growing pattern of these violent attacks, we will meet this moment with shared resolve and stand together against hate and intimidation,” he wrote on X.

The number of reported anti-Semitic incidents across the UK has soared since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023, according to the Community Security Trust, which works to protect the Jewish community. The group registered 3,700 in 2025, compared to 1,662 in 2022.

In October 2025, an attacker He ran over people gathered in front of a Manchester synagogue with his car on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and stabbed a person to death. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

Earlier this month, two men were accused of carrying out “hostile” surveillance of the UK Jewish community in London on behalf of Iran.

There have also been a series of recent attacks in other cities in Europe, including an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam and nighttime attacks outside synagogues in the Belgian city of Liege and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam earlier this month. No one was injured in those incidents. In France, officials said foiled an alleged terrorist plot directed at Jewish targets.