Nothing suspicious found after ‘dangerous substances’ threat to Israel’s London Embassy

British police said on Friday they were investigating a security incident near the Israeli Embassy in London after a terror group reported online that it had targeted the premises with drones carrying “dangerous substances.” On Saturday, Metropolitan Police announced the incident was over and no hazardous materials had been found.

“While the Embassy of Israel was not attacked, we continue to work closely with the Embassy and its security team to keep the site safe and secure,” a commander of counterterrorism policing in London said on Saturday.

Due to the incident, the police presence was stepped up and cordons were put in place, closing public access to the nearby Kensington Gardens and the surrounding area.

On Friday, Metropolitan Police officers were seen wearing protective clothing while searching the park near the embassy for suspicious objects, with the Foreign Ministry stressing that all embassy workers were safe and that the embassy was not attacked.

“There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items,” said Scotland Yard, calling the protective suits a “precaution.”

“We do not believe there to be any increased public safety risk at this stage,” the Metropolitan Police continued.

The police added that their counterterrorism force was “aware” of a video posted Thursday night, “in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby Embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances.”

The newly founded pro-Iranian terror group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, had posted a video that included footage of drones along with two figures dressed in protective clothing and a message that the Israeli embassy was being targeted.

The group has claimed responsibility for a spate of attacks across Europe on American, Israeli and Jewish targets, including an arson attack that destroyed several ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola, which were parked near a synagogue in the Golders Green area of north London.

Scotland Yard confirmed Friday that Israel’s embassy was not attacked, but said that it was “carrying out urgent enquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”

Matt Jukes, the head of counter-terrorism at London police, said the police presence had been stepped up and cordons had been put in place, meaning there was no public access to Kensington Gardens and the surrounding area.

“We do not believe there to be any increased public safety risk at this time and we would urge people, nonetheless, to avoid the area while officers carry out their work,” Jukes said.

The threatening video was the latest in a number of incidents involving the embassy and Jewish sites in the British capital since the ambulances were torched last month.

Earlier this week, two suspects were arrested over an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in north London.

In March, two men were charged with being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on the Israeli embassy and other Jewish targets, while earlier this week, a man from Kuwait went on trial, accused of planning a terrorist attack on the embassy.

Several UK media outlets reported last month that Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, owns two luxury apartments “overlooking” the embassy. The Daily Mail quoted a security expert asserting that “Iran owns the view into the back of the Israeli Embassy from less than 50 metres away… It’s a permanent surveillance platform. This is a serious security breach.”