Police investigate the scene of an attempted arson attack in the Hendon area of London, England.
Alishia Abodunde / Getty Images

U.K. counterterrorism police are investigating an arson attack on a London building that was formerly used by a Jewish charity following a spate of similar incidents in recent weeks.

The fire occurred late Friday in London's northern Hendon neighborhood, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Police were called to the scene shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday, when a man was spotted approaching a row of shops carrying a plastic bag. He placed the bag by a building before lighting the items inside, according to police.

The bag was later found to have three bottles containing "fluid," police said. When the bottles failed to fully ignite, the man fled the scene, according to police.

No one was injured. Photos show a sign for the education organization Jewish Futures still visible in the building's window. The Community Security Trust, a charity that provides safety advice to Jewish groups, said the fire "caused minimal damage to a nearby doorway."

"We are aware of what appears to be another attempted arson, this time targeting a premises in north London previously used by the Jewish community," the Community Security Trust charity.

Police said the community can expect to see a heightened law enforcement presence in the area.

The attack mirrored recent incidents in the same area. Two people were arrested on Wednesday over a separate arson attack on a North London synagogue.

In late March, four Jewish community ambulances were torched in Golders Green, also in north London. Hamza Iqbal, 20, and Rehan Khan, 19, and a 17-year-old of dual British-Pakistani nationality who cannot be named because of his age, all from east London, were charged with arson and taken into custody in connection with that incident.

Helen Flanagan, a member of the Metropolitan Police's counterterrorism unit, said in a statement that the Hendon attack is "not being linked to other incidents in north-west London," but said that the unit is leading the investigation "due to the similarities of each attack."

On Wednesday evening, a burning object was thrown towards the offices of Persian media outlet Iran International, which is heavily critical of Iran's clerical leadership. It landed in a car park and no one was injured.

Little-known group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, with links to Iran, claimed responsibility for that and the attacks on the synagogue and ambulances, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

The group previously claimed similar attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Community Security Trust has recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom in 2025, the second-highest total ever reported to the organization.

Source