U.K. police hunt for 2 suspects in attempted arson attack on synagogue

London police said Wednesday they were hunting two suspects after an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in the north of the British capital, amid an upsurge in antisemitic incidents.

The pair, dressed in dark clothing and balaclavas, approached the synagogue in Finchley shortly after midnight and “threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol [gasoline]” which did not ignite, the Metropolitan Police Force said in a statement.

The attack comes after an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity in London last month and a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025. The attack on the ambulances was claimed by a shadowy group that analysts tell CBS News likely has link to pro-Iranian regime elements. The same group claimed a number of other recent antisemitic attacks in Europe, and told CBS News last month that it would continue targeting “U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide.”

The latest incident in Finchley, which police said was being treated as an “antisemitic hate crime,” was being investigated with support from counterterrorism detectives.

Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The Community Security Trust recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the U.K. last year, a 4% rise on 2024, but down on 2023.

Two men and a boy have been charged over the ambulance attack on March 23, in which four ambulances run by volunteer organization Hatzola were destroyed. It provides free medical transportation and emergency response to those living in north London.

On Oct. 2, 2025, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, the attack on the synagogue in Manchester killed two people and seriously injured three, prompting increased anxiety among Jewish communities.

In February, a court jailed two men for life after police foiled a separate plot to carry out an ISIS-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester.

Two Iranians also appeared in court in London in March accused of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Tehran.