Four Men Plead Guilty to Arson Attack on Jewish Ambulances in London
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by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
Charred remains of ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, which were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Four young British men on Friday admitted to an arson attack on community ambulances in London, the first of a spate of incidents targeting the capital’s Jewish community this year.
The four ambulances belonging to Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola were set ablaze on March 23 while they were parked near a synagogue.
In other attacks in April and May, a synagogue and a former synagogue were targeted, as was Persian-language media organization Iran International and a memorial wall dedicated to people killed in Iran.
British police said at the time that they were investigating possible Iranian links to those arson attacks, with pro-Iranian group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI) claiming responsibility for the ambulance attack and some others.
The SITE Intelligence website has said HAYI had been behind similar fires in Europe.
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali, 18, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court on Friday and pleaded guilty to destroying or damaging the Hatzola ambulances and being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity which provides security for Jewish communities, welcomed the guilty pleas.
“This was an appalling antisemitic act against a volunteer ambulance service providing emergency medical assistance to people of all backgrounds across north London, simply because those ambulances belonged to a Jewish charity,” the CST said.
Prosecutors said at a previous hearing that web searches for “how much do ambulances cost” and “how long does it take for police to [investigate] arsons” were found on Iqbal’s phone after his arrest.
A fifth defendant, 18-year-old Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender relating to the disposal of a vehicle used in the incident. He is expected to stand trial next year.
Prosecutors say the attack targeting Hatzola, a not-for-profit volunteer service that works alongside Britain’s National Health Service and primarily serves the Orthodox Jewish community, cost around £1 million ($1.36 million).
