Arson destroys four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green

Images

×

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 23: Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis attends the scene after four Hatzolah ambulances were set on fire overnight on March 23, 2026 in London, England. Firefighters were called to the scene at around 1:40AM and the fire was brought under control just after 3:00 AM. Hatzola is a volunteer organisation that provides Jewish people emergency medical response and free transportation to hospitals. The Metropolitan Police said they are treating the incident as an "antisemitic hate crime." (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images) standard.co.uk

<p>The four destroyed ambulances</p> standard.co.uk

The four ambulances at the scene in Golders Green, London, after an apparent arson attack on the vehicles belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance Service (PA) independent.co.uk

Firefighters were called to control the blaze in Golders Green after the attack on four Jewish community ambulances (PA) independent.co.uk

Firefighters attend to the blaze in north London (PA) independent.co.uk

‹ ›

Four ambulances used by the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola were destroyed in an early-morning arson attack in Golders Green, northwest London, after CCTV showed three hooded figures pouring accelerant over the vehicles and setting them alight. The Metropolitan Police is treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime; the London Fire Brigade said explosions heard by residents were likely caused by gas canisters inside the ambulances, and nearby windows were blown out, according to the Evening Standard.

Hatzola is one of several community-run “blue light” services that operate alongside state provision, built around volunteers, local knowledge and short response times. The Standard reports one family in north London called Hatzola twice within weeks when their newborn began choking, and the same paramedic arrived on both occasions—an intimacy that is hard to replicate in a centralised system. These services also sit on a different funding model: fundraising, donations and community governance rather than tax budgets, which makes them both nimble and exposed. When a public ambulance fleet is vandalised, the state can shift vehicles across boroughs; when a volunteer fleet is torched, the replacement timetable depends on insurance, donations and the willingness of volunteers to return to a targeted site.

The attack also illustrates how overseas conflicts now surface in the infrastructure of everyday life. The Independent reports that a little-known Telegram channel claiming to represent a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al‑Yamin al‑Islamiya (HAYI) posted an unverified claim of responsibility before the channel disappeared, after having attracted fewer than 200 subscribers. Researchers cited by the Independent said some of the group’s videos had circulated earlier in pro‑Iranian militia channels, while other claimed attacks may be disinformation, a pattern consistent with low-cost influence operations that use ambiguous branding and disposable accounts. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said it was “too early” to attribute the London attack to the Iranian state, though he described Britain’s Jewish community as increasingly targeted by individuals, groups and hostile states.

The practical effect is the same even when attribution is uncertain: a small number of people can impose large security costs on local institutions that exist to provide basic services. Volunteer responders must now think about hardening garages, controlling access, and protecting staff—overheads that do not rescue patients. Politicians can call for unity, but the operational question is more prosaic: how quickly a burned-out ambulance can be replaced, and how long a neighbourhood can run on fewer vehicles.

By Tuesday, police had made no arrests, and four destroyed ambulances sat in a synagogue car park behind cordons and floodlights.