Four plead guilty to torching Jewish ambulances in $1.4 million London arson attack

Four men have pleaded guilty to destroying four ambulances belonging to Jewish emergency service Hatzalah in a March 23 arson attack outside a synagogue in Golders Green, one of London’s largest Jewish communities.

British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and British-Pakistani Saif Ali, 18, admitted criminal damage. Three set the ambulances on fire while the fourth waited in a getaway car, causing an estimated £1 million ($1.4 million) in damage. Prosecutors described it as a “premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community.”

The attack came during a wave of incidents targeting Jews after the US-Israel war against Iran began on February 28. Iran-linked group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the ambulance attack, although defense lawyers deny the four defendants had terrorist-group connections. Britain is now moving to ban HAYI as a national security threat, while the four men remain in custody awaiting sentencing in spring 2027.