Four plead guilty to London arson attack on Jewish community ambulances

Four young men have admitted to being behind an arson attack on London ambulances owned by a Jewish charity at a UK court hearing.

British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and British-Pakistani Saif Ali, 18, all pleaded guilty to criminal damage linked to the March 23 attack.

Four ambulances run by the Hatzola charity were destroyed in a London neighborhood home to a significant Jewish population, amid a spate of attacks in the British capital targeting Jewish or Israel-linked locations.

The vehicles were parked near a synagogue, and the damage was valued at one million pounds ($1.4 million).

At a previous hearing, prosecution lawyer Emma Harraway told the court there was strong evidence this was “a premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community.”

Several antisemitic attacks in London this year targeted synagogues and other Jewish sites.

An Iran-linked group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah (HAYI) had previously claimed multiple attacks, including the destruction of the ambulances.

The UK government has announced plans to ban HAYI, also known as the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, as a national security threat.

Defense lawyers denied that the four defendants had any “terrorism” connections to groups proscribed in the UK.