❓WHAT HAPPENED: Two men were arrested following an anti-Semitic firebomb attack on ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in north London.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Counter-terror police detained two men aged 45 and 47, and are searching for a third suspect.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The attack occurred early Monday morning in Golders Green, north London, with arrests made on Wednesday.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This appears to be an important breakthrough in the investigation, but we’re also mindful that CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved.” — Helen Flanagan, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing London
🎯IMPACT: The attack has raised concerns of rising anti-Semitism in England and potential links to Iran-backed groups.
Police have arrested two men in north London in connection with a March 23 firebomb attack targeting Jewish Community Ambulance Service ambulances outside a synagogue in Golders Green. The attack, which briefly forced the evacuation of nearby homes after oxygen canisters inside the ambulances exploded, is being investigated by London’s Metropolitan Police as an “anti-Semitic hate crime.”
The two suspects, aged 45 and 47, were detained on Wednesday and charged with arson with intent to endanger life. Notably, this charge could carry a life sentence. Both men are said by police to have British citizenship. Helen Flanagan, leading the counter-terrorism effort, emphasized the urgency of the investigation, stating, “This appears to be an important breakthrough in the investigation, but we’re also mindful that CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved.”
“We fully recognize the local community will still be concerned and our investigation very much remains active,” Flanagan added.
Shortly after the firebombing, a terrorist group identifying itself as Harakat al-Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the attack. However, there appears to be scant evidence that HIYA actually exists, and British security officials speaking with the media have indicated they believe “it is a front and a brand invented by Iranian intelligence or the Quds Force.”
Iran’s Quds Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that carries out clandestine extraterritorial military operations, warned it would begin carrying out attacks against the United States and its allies after President Donald J. Trump authorized Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
“The enemy should know that their happy days are over and they will no longer be safe anywhere in the world, not even in their own homes,” the Quds Force said in a statement read on state television just days after the joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes began.
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