Guilty pleas entered in London arson targeting Jewish charity ambulances

Four men pleaded guilty on Friday to the destruction of four Jewish community ambulances during an arson attack in north London earlier this year. Authorities have widely characterized the incident as a direct consequence of the onset of the Iran war.

Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb stated at London’s Central Criminal Court that sentencing will occur in the spring of 2027, following a separate trial for an additional individual charged in connection with the attack.

Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, and Saif Ali, all 18, were charged with destroying or damaging property and acting recklessly regarding potential endangerment of life.

The four ambulances, set ablaze in the early hours of March 23, belonged to Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer-led charity serving the Golders Green area of north London. Each vehicle was valued at approximately 250,000 pounds ($340,000).

This arson was among several incidents identified as antisemitic in the weeks following the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28.

Three of the defendants allegedly ignited the fully equipped vehicles, while a fourth remained in a waiting car. The ensuing inferno triggered explosions of gas canisters inside the ambulances, subsequently causing damage to adjacent apartments and a synagogue.

Prosecutor Leo Seelig suggested that the incident possessed a “terrorist connection,” though the court heard no evidence implicating potential Iranian proxies.

Counterterrorism authorities investigated the potential involvement of Iranian proxies in the arson of the Jewish ambulances, alongside other assaults on Jewish locations in London.

Most of these incidents were claimed online by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, also known as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right.

The Iranian Embassy in the United Kingdom has “categorically rejected” allegations of involvement in “violent activities or incidents in the United Kingdom.”

During the same hearing, a fifth defendant, 18-year-old Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender. Ahmed, who is accused of facilitating the disposal of the vehicle used in the attack, will face trial on January 27.

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