Four Men Plead Guilty to Arson Attack on Jewish Ambulances in North London

Guilty Pleas in Hatzola Ambulance Arson

Four men pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to the arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola in Golders Green, north London, on March 23. Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, and Judex Atshatshi and Saif Ali, both 18, admitted a charge of destroying or damaging property while being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, according to reports from the Old Bailey. The ambulances, each costing around £250,000, were parked near a synagogue when they were set on fire in the early hours, causing an estimated £1 million in damage.

Three of the defendants were described as having set fire to the fully stocked vehicles while a fourth waited in a blue Toyota Avensis. The resulting blaze caused gas canisters inside the ambulances to explode, damaging nearby apartments and a synagogue. The court also heard that Ali, who was 17 at the time of his arrest on April 1, threw his mobile phone out of a window and had conducted online research into ambulance costs.

Background and Wider Context

The attack was one of a series of incidents deemed antisemitic in the weeks following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, as reported by ABC News. Prosecutor Leo Segal suggested the incident had a "terrorist connection," though no mention was made in court of potential proxies working for Iran. Counterterrorism police investigated the possible involvement of Iranian proxies in the attack, as well as other attacks on Jewish sites in London, most of which were claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI), also known as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right.

The Iranian Embassy in the UK "categorically rejects" allegations of involvement in violent activities or incidents in the United Kingdom, as quoted by ABC News. Jerusalem Post reported that police treated the incident as an antisemitic hate crime and that HAYI claimed responsibility for the ambulance attack, which was followed by other arson incidents targeting a synagogue, a former synagogue, the Persian-language media organization Iran International, and a memorial wall dedicated to people killed in Iran.

Legal Proceedings and Next Steps

A fifth defendant, Subhan Ahmed, 18, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender and will go on trial on January 27, according to ABC News. Sentencing for the four who pleaded guilty will take place in spring 2027, after the conclusion of Ahmed's trial, as stated by Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb at London's Central Criminal Court. The pleas were entered by video link from Wandsworth and Pentonville jails, with Ali in the dock at the Old Bailey, as reported by The Guardian.

Hatzola, established in 1979, is a volunteer-run charity providing free medical transportation and emergency response to Jewish and non-Jewish people in north London. Prosecutors have stated they believe the attack was targeted against the Jewish community.