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Four Ambulances Destroyed in London Antisemitic Arson

Published 30 March 2026

In the early hours of March 23, arsonists set fire to four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer charity Hatzola Northwest in Golders Green, a north London neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, in what authorities are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime.

The attack occurred around 1:45 a.m. near the Machzike Hadath Synagogue on a residential street. Closed-circuit television footage released by police shows three hooded and masked individuals, dressed in black, approaching the vehicles parked in a lot. One appears to remove an item from a bag before the group moves out of view, followed seconds later by flames engulfing the ambulances. Oxygen cylinders inside the vehicles exploded, shattering windows in a nearby apartment block and intensifying the blaze. Firefighters from the London Fire Brigade responded promptly, extinguishing the fire, but all four ambulances were destroyed.

Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident shortly after 4:45 a.m., classifying it as a hate crime. The investigation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing London, though officials have not designated it a terrorist incident. Commander Helen Flanagan, head of the unit,...

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