Officers from Metropolitan Police said firefighters were called early Tuesday to a building in east London, where gates at a former synagogue were set alight, causing minor damage.

Authorities said initial CCTV evidence indicated the fire was started deliberately at around 0510 GMT.Given the site’s connection to the Jewish community, the case has been taken up by Counter Terrorism Policing London, the force added.The incident comes amid a broader spike in antisemitic attacks across London, including arson cases and last week’s stabbing of two Jewish men.

The Golders Green area, home to a large Jewish population, has been among locations affected.Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday convened public figures to discuss what he described as a “crisis” in response to the rise in such attacks. He said authorities were examining whether any incidents may have links to foreign actors.

“Our message to Iran or to any other country that might seek to promote violence, hatred or division in society is that it will not be tolerated,” Starmer said.

A group identified as Harakat Ashab Al-Yamin Al-Islamiya (HAYI), which is believed by officials to have links to Iran, has previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Britain and elsewhere in Europe.Police said investigations into the latest arson incident are ongoing.

Northern Ireland’s Belfast Telegraph reported on Sunday that the vehicle detonated outside the police station during the night, publishing an image showing a car engulfed in flames near the site.The Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement that officers were responding to a security alert in Dunmurry and that an evacuation operation was underway in the area.

Authorities did not immediately confirm the cause of the explosion or whether the incident was being treated as a deliberate attack.Police said emergency procedures were put in place as security personnel secured the surrounding area and residents were advised to avoid the location while investigations continued.

No officers were injured in the blast, the Belfast Telegraph reported, though officials had not yet released information on whether any civilians were harmed or whether arrests had been made.

The incident comes against the backdrop of persistent low-level security threats in Northern Ireland despite the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended three decades of sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.

Police officers in the region remain occasional targets of dissident republican groups, most of them small nationalist militant factions opposed to British rule in Northern Ireland and the peace settlement that followed.

Security incidents involving improvised explosive devices and attacks on law enforcement have continued sporadically in recent years, particularly in Belfast, Londonderry and border regions.The police service has not publicly linked Sunday’s explosion to any specific group, and investigations were ongoing.

The Dunmurry alert led to overnight road closures and the deployment of armored police vehicles, according to local reports, as officers conducted searches around the station and nearby streets.

Officials were expected to provide further details later on Sunday as forensic teams examined the scene.

The Metropolitan Police said no injuries were reported in the early-morning attack in Golders Green, but the blaze destroyed the vehicles, triggered explosions from onboard oxygen cylinders and damaged nearby homes, prompting evacuations.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said detectives were pursuing multiple lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by a group identifying itself as Harakat Ashab Al-Yamin Al-Islamia, which has previously claimed attacks in Europe.

“We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links,” Rowley said, adding that it was too early to attribute the incident directly to any state actor.

Police said three suspects seen in security footage carrying a canister near the ambulances are being sought, though no arrests have been made.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as “horrific” and met Jewish community representatives at Downing Street to discuss the response.“Antisemitism has no place in our society and it’s really important that we all stand together at a moment like this,” Starmer said.

Religious leaders also condemned the attack, with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calling it a “sickening assault,” while Anglican leader Sarah Mullally said such violence had no place in society.

The ambulances belonged to Hatzola Northwest, a volunteer emergency response organization serving the local Jewish community. The London Fire Brigade said explosions from oxygen cylinders shattered windows in nearby buildings.

The attack has heightened concerns within Britain’s Jewish population, estimated at around 300,000, amid a broader rise in antisemitic incidents. The Community Security Trust has reported a sharp increase in such cases in recent years following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.

Police said additional security would be deployed around Jewish schools, synagogues and community centers ahead of the Passover holiday next month.