Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after four Jewish charity-owned ambulances were set on fire in north London.
Four Hatzola ambulances were burned in Golders Green in the early hours of Monday in an incident being treated as an antisemitic hate crime.
A 47-year-old man was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in north-west London on Wednesday morning and a 45-year-old man was arrested in central London.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of counter terrorism policing London, called the arrests an “important breakthrough” but said CCTV footage “suggests there were at least three people involved”.
“We fully recognise the local community will still be concerned and our investigation very much remains active and we will continue to work to identify and seek to arrest all of those who may have been involved,” she added.
The Met previously said the investigation was looking at an Islamist group with potential links to Iran. Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya — The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand — made an unsubstantiated claim of responsibility and has claimed similar arson incidents across Europe.
Although the case is not being classed as a terror incident, the Met said the investigation is currently being led by counter-terror officers.
The Community Security Trust, a charity that tracks antisemitism in the UK and provides security to British Jews, welcomed the arrests and said it was “grateful to the officers who have worked tirelessly to find those accountable,” while noting the community would understandably remain concerned. It added its security operations would remain at a “high level”.
Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams outlined additional security measures in the area, including police officers being deployed to protect certain locations and “additional highly visible armed police patrols”. He said these steps are precautionary and not in response to any specific threat.
Officers are carrying out searches at the two London addresses where the men were arrested.
Four replacement ambulances, supplied by the government, arrived at Hatzola on Tuesday.