UK police seek two suspects in synagogue arson attempt

London police announced on Wednesday that they are searching for two individuals involved in an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in the north of the city, amid a rise in antisemitic incidents.

The suspects, wearing dark outfits and balaclavas, approached the synagogue in Finchley shortly after midnight and "threw two bottles believed to be filled with petrol [gasoline]," which failed to ignite, the Metropolitan Police Force stated in a report.

This incident follows an arson attack on ambulances operated by a Jewish charity in London last month and a fatal attack at a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025. 

The ambulance attack was claimed by a mysterious group that experts told CBS News likely has connections to elements supporting the pro-Iranian regime. 

The same group has taken responsibility for several other antisemitic attacks in Europe and informed CBS News last month that it intends to keep targeting "US and Israeli interests worldwide."

The recent event in Finchley, which the police described as an "antisemitic hate crime," is being investigated with assistance from counterterrorism experts.

Monitoring agencies have noted a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, especially since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 incidents of anti-Jewish hate across the UK last year, marking a 4% increase from 2024, but a decrease compared to 2023.

Two men and a boy have been charged concerning the ambulance attack on March 23, during which four ambulances operated by volunteer organisation Hatzola were destroyed. 

This organisation provides free medical transport and emergency services to residents in north London.

On October 2, 2025, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, an attack on the synagogue in Manchester resulted in the deaths of two individuals and caused serious injuries to three others, heightening concerns within Jewish communities.

In February, a court sentenced two men to life imprisonment after police thwarted a plot inspired by ISIS to execute a gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester.

Additionally, in March, two Iranians appeared in a London court charged with spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Tehran.