FINCHLEY — The Metropolitan Police Force launched a search for two suspects following an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in Finchley, north London, shortly after midnight. The force is treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime, and counterterrorism detectives are supporting the investigation.

The two suspects wore dark clothing and balaclavas when they approached the synagogue, according to the police account of the incident. They threw two bottles suspected to contain petrol at the building, but neither bottle ignited. The suspects then fled the area before officers arrived.

No arrests had been announced at the time the search was underway. Police asked anyone with information about the two suspects or their movements before and after the attempted attack to come forward.

The incident in Finchley comes after a number of attacks and plots targeting Jewish communities and institutions across the United Kingdom. On Oct. 2, 2025, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, an attack on a synagogue in Manchester killed two people and seriously injured three others.

In February 2026, a court jailed two men for life after police foiled a plot to carry out an ISIS-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester. In March 2026, two Iranians appeared in a London court accused of spying on the Jewish community in the city on behalf of Tehran.

The Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Jewish hate incidents in the United Kingdom, recorded 3,700 such instances across the country in 2025. That total represented a 4 percent increase from 2024 but marked a decrease from the number recorded in 2023.