Four men plead guilty to arson attack on Jewish ambulances in London

This combination of pictures released by Britain's Metropolitan Police, and created on August 28, 2026 shows the custody photographs of Rehan Khan (top L), Judex Atshatshi (top R), Hamza Iqbal (bottom L) and Saif Ali.

• 4 young British men plead guilty to setting fire to ambulances belonging to Jewish volunteer emergency service
• The 4 ambulances were burned March 23 while parked near a synagogue

LONDON: 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).