British police said on Monday they had arrested a 37-year old man in connection with a series of attacks on Jewish-linked premises in northwest London.
The police said he was arrested “on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts and has been taken to a London police station for questioning.”
“The arrest is part of an ongoing CTP London investigation into a series of attacks on premises linked to the Jewish community in north west London, an attack on a Persian-language media organization and the discovery of jars of a non-hazardous substance in Kensington Gardens,” the statement continued.
Over the last month, a total of 26 people have been arrested as part of the investigation, according to police. Of those arrested, eight have been charged with arson-related offenses and one person has been convicted of arson.
The spate of arrests was triggered by an arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish-led charity Hatzola, which were located next to a synagogue in the city’s Golders Green neighborhood.
Additionally, the Finchley Reform Synagogue was targeted in an attempted arson attack earlier this month, followed by a separate attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow.
The newly founded Islamist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), or Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand of Islam, which has links to Iran, has claimed responsibility for many of the recent attacks across Europe on American, Israeli and Jewish targets, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
Speaking at a synagogue on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “We have to deal with malign state actors, that will require legislation.”
“It’s very important in this particular context because I’m increasingly concerned that a number of countries are using proxies for attacks in this country,” he said.
Monitoring groups have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in Britain, particularly since the start of the Gaza war, which was sparked by Hamas’s terror onslaught in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Community Security Trust, a British watchdog, recorded 3,700 instances of anti-Jewish hate across the UK last year, a four percent rise over 2024, but down when compared to 2023.
The most severe antisemitic incident in Britain last year was in October, when an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue to mark the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and stabbed one person to death. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.
