An arson attack targeting ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in north London is being treated as a suspected antisemitic hate crime, with counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation, according to reports by the Metropolitan Police.

Four Hatzola ambulances, a volunteer-based ambulance service primarily found in Jewish communities, were set on fire in Golders Green during the early hours of Monday, triggering multiple explosions caused by gas canisters inside the ambulances.

No arrests have been made so far. However, investigators are examining now viral CCTV footage that appears to show three individuals dressed in black setting one of the ambulances alight. The attacks are being treated by police as an antisemitic hate crime as opposed to terrorism.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers are also exploring whether the incident could be linked to a group with possible connections to the Iranian state. Rowley stated police were “pursuing all lines of enquiry”, including “an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links”. This came after the Iran-aligned group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya – The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand made an unconfirmed claim of responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.

Speaking at an annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, Rowley also stated that the Jewish community in recent years had been “increasingly targeted by individuals, groups and hostile states.

"The rapid growth in recent years of Iranian state threats is grave: hostile state surveillance activity, 20 disrupted plots, and recent attempted attacks on the Iranian diaspora. None of this is isolated. It is part of a rapidly shifting threat landscape.” he said.

This morning, the security cordon at the attack site had been removed, with many onlookers capturing images of the charred remains of ambulances. In the car park of the Machzike Hadath Synagogue, damaged medical equipment was also visible inside the vehicles, while shards of glass were scattered across the ground.

The synagogue’s stained glass windows were cracked by the explosion, and windows in a nearby apartment block, up to the fourth floor, had been blown out and subsequently boarded up. The synagogue’s president Damon Hoff praised the work of the emergency services, stating:

“[The] only reason the floors didn’t burn down is because they got there so quickly”.

Hoff added that most of the damage was to the exterior of the building and the synagogue was able to reopen for prayer today.

As investigations continue, on Monday, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, was summoned by the Foreign Office over what was described as his country’s “reckless and destabilising actions” in Britain and overseas. A fundraiser set up to secure new, safer premises for a Jewish ambulance service has raised £1.4 million since the attack.