Four young men have pleaded guilty to an arson attack that destroyed four Hatzolah ambulances in London’s heavily Jewish Golders Green neighborhood, causing approximately £1 million in damage in an incident that prosecutors say they will argue was connected to terrorism.
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali, 18, entered guilty pleas at the Old Bailey to destroying or damaging property while being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
The attack occurred during the early morning hours of March 23, when four fully equipped ambulances belonging to Hatzolah were deliberately set ablaze in Golders Green.
Prosecutors have said they believe the Hatzolah vehicles were specifically targeted because of their connection to the Jewish community.
According to evidence presented in court, three members of the group carried out the actual firebombing of the ambulances while the fourth remained nearby in a vehicle.
Gas canisters inside the ambulances exploded after the fires were started, adding to the destruction at the scene.
Each of the ambulances was valued at approximately £250,000. Four electrical charging stations and their cables were also damaged in the blaze, with each charging installation valued at roughly £5,000.
Prosecutor Leo Seelig told the court that when the defendants are sentenced, the Crown Prosecution Service intends to argue that the arson should be treated as an offense connected to terrorism.
Mrs. Justice Cheema Grubb declined to make a determination at this point about whether the attack was terrorism-related. Defense attorneys have maintained that there is no evidence establishing such a connection.
Sentencing for the four defendants will take place after the case against a fifth man, Subhan Ahmed, is resolved. Ahmed has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender.
Iqbal and Khan, both from Leyton; Atshatshi, of Dagenham; and Ali, of Walthamstow, were ordered to remain in custody.
Hatzolah has provided emergency medical services in Golders Green and the surrounding north London community since 1979. Operated by volunteers, the Jewish-led nonprofit provides emergency medical assistance and hospital transportation free of charge to people regardless of their religion.
The Community Security Trust, which works to protect British Jews against antisemitism and terrorism, welcomed the guilty pleas and said the actions of the defendants “caused immense shock and distress across the Jewish community”.
“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,” a spokesperson added.
The four defendants are expected to be sentenced in the spring of next year. Prosecutors intend to present evidence at sentencing supporting their contention that the attack had a terrorism connection, while attorneys representing the defendants told the court that none of the four is involved in terrorism.
The case has also drawn the attention of British intelligence officials amid a wider investigation into possible Iranian involvement in attacks targeting Jewish communities during 2026.
British intelligence officials initially kept open the possibility that the Iranian government or groups operating on its behalf could have played a role in the Hatzolah attack and other incidents targeting Jewish interests. They subsequently concluded that classified intelligence indicated possible involvement by Iran or Iranian proxies.
Those suspicions have been reinforced by an FBI investigation involving Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iranian-Iraqi man facing trial in Manhattan over allegations that he orchestrated attacks against Jewish communities in Europe.
U.S. court filings allege that al-Saadi, described as a commander in an Iraqi militia, was connected to attacks in London, including the destruction of the Hatzolah ambulances.
Al-Saadi was arrested in Turkey in May and subsequently extradited to the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that he participated in planning more than a dozen terrorist attacks across North America and Europe.
Federal court documents in the United States detail numerous incidents across Europe that the FBI alleges were connected to al-Saadi. In several cases, attacks targeting Jewish institutions were claimed online by a little-known organization called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand.
According to U.S. prosecutors, a social media account associated with the group claimed responsibility for the London ambulance arson. Prosecutors further allege that al-Saadi personally posted propaganda footage of the attack on social media.
“On or about March 23, 2026, at approximately 1:45 a.m., three masked individuals carried out an arson attack on four Hatzalah Ambulances in London, United Kingdom,” reads the indictment before the US court.
“That same day, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya posted on Telegram a propaganda video in which it claimed responsibility for the attack. On or about March 25, 2026, AL-SAADI posted on social media propaganda videos of the attack.”
The Justice Department has additionally accused al-Saadi of posting another propaganda video connected to an attempted arson attack against Finchley Road Synagogue in north London in April.
Attorneys representing al-Saadi in the United States have previously maintained that he is a political prisoner.
{Matzav.com}
