By Isabel Infantes and Hannah McKay
A police officer walks next to a police cordon line near the scene after four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organisation, were set on fire in northwest London
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organisation in north London were set ablaze in a suspected antisemitic hate crime, police said on Monday,
"An investigation has been launched after four ambulances belonging to the Jewish Community Ambulance service were set on fire in Golders Green," Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
"Officers remain on scene and the arson attack is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime."
The ambulances belonged to Hatzola, a not-for-profit volunteer organisation that responds to medical emergencies.
The London Fire Brigade said it sent six fire engines and 40 firefighters to the scene. Calls from residents were recorded at 0140 GMT.
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"Multiple cylinders on the vehicles exploded and caused windows to break in an adjacent block of flats. No injuries are reported."
The London Fire Brigade said the fire was under control by 0306 GMT.
Attacks against Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since the October 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
Mark Gardner, chief executive of the Community Security Trust, which advises Britain's estimated 290,000 Jews on security matters, said there was an "obvious parallel to similar recent anti-Jewish arson attacks in Liege, Rotterdam and Amsterdam."
Since the conflict, Britain has recorded significantly higher levels of antisemitic hate.
The most severe antisemitic incident in Britain last year was the Manchester attack that killed two Jewish worshippers during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Writing by Andy Bruce in Manchester, England; Editing by Tom Hogue and Shri Navaratnam)