Police shut London park as Islamist ‘terror cell’ posts video claiming to indicate drones ‘carrying radioactive and cancer-causing supplies’ flying in the direction of Israeli Embassy

Police have closed a London park after an Islamist ‘terror cell’ posted a video of what they claimed were drones carrying ‘radioactive and cancer-causing materials’ towards the Israeli embassy.

The Metropolitan Police has blocked off public access to Kensington Gardens while officers wearing protective hazmat suits and gas masks assess ‘a number of discarded items’.

It comes after the Iran-linked group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) posted a video online claiming it had aimed two drones carrying ‘radioactive and dangerous carcinogenic material’ towards the nearby Israeli embassy.

Although security sources are said to consider the video as ‘extremely amateurish’, authorities are taking their claims seriously and believe they may be a proxy ‘commissioned’ by pro-Iranian regime groups.

In a video released by HAYI, two people dressed in white hazmat-style suits can be seen handling drones adorned with its logo. Footage, which appeared to have been filmed in a local park, then showed a drone taking off into the evening sky. 

The Met Police confirmed the embassy has not been attacked, but said it was probing the authenticity of the video and whether there is any link between it and the items discarded in the park.

Officers wearing protective suits were pictured in Kensington Gardens just before 9am, while access to the public was blocked off on Friday.

A van belonging to the Metropolitan Police’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) team, a fire investigation unit from the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service’s hazardous area response team are also present at the scene.

Later, divers from the Metropolitan Police underwater and confined space search team arrived close to the bandstand. 

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia has claimed responsibility for a series of incidents since the start of the conflict between the US and Israel and Iran, including the arson attack on ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity.

It has also claimed recent attempted arson attacks at a synagogue in Finchley and an Iranian TV station in Wembley which is critical of the regime.

In its latest video, the group said it has ‘moved to the second phase of operations’. 

The gates to Kensington Gardens were shut this morning, with signs informing the public that the park is closed.

‘Hazardous conditions – do not enter’, the sign added.

As well as specialist teams of police officers, including divers, London Fire Brigade’s fire investigation dogs were also deployed in the park this afternoon.

The Israeli embassy confirmed it had not been directly attacked and its staff are safe.

‘A suspected security incident is being investigated in the park adjacent to the Embassy of Israel in London,’ the embassy said.

‘We wish to clarify that all Embassy staff are safe and that the Embassy was not attacked.

‘As always we remain in close and continuous contact with the local authorities.’

In a statement released on Friday, the Met Police said: ‘There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items.

‘As a precaution, some of the officers who have been deployed are wearing protective clothing. We recognise this may concern local residents and the wider public.

‘We do not believe there to be any increased public safety risk at this stage, but we would urge people to avoid the area while officers carry out their work.

‘There are cordons in place and there is no public access to the gardens and the surrounding area.

‘Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of a video shared online overnight in which a group claim to have targeted the nearby Embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances.

‘While we can confirm that the Embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent enquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.’

In a statement on social media, Kensington Gardens confirmed it would be closed for the day.

‘Due to an ongoing police investigation, Kensington Gardens will be closed to the public today,’ the statement read.

‘We respectfully ask that people avoid the area until further notice. Thank you.

‘Hyde Park and West Carriage Drive remain open. Serpentine Galleries can be access from West Carriage Drive’. 

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has called on the Government to set out what steps are being taken to protect the embassy.

‘The relentless intimidation of the Jewish community and attacks on Jewish institutions have absolutely no place in this country,’ he said.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, (HAYI), which translates to ‘Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right’, is also known as Ashab al-Yamin.

It is believed to be linked to Iran’s proxy groups and has claimed responsibility for incidents across Europe in recent weeks.

Analysts have said it is too early to determine if they are a militia sponsored by Iran or an online-only group. 

Most of the participants in the plots appear to be ‘criminals for hire’ who are recruited on social media platforms such as Telegram and receive money in payment using crypto currency. 

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia was first heard of when it said it was behind an explosion at the front of a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liege on March 9.

Its insignia, bearing a raised arm with a rifle pointing right with a globe slightly faded in the background, is very similar to the IRGC’s, Lebanese Hezbollah and Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq.

The right hand is typically associated with divine favour, honour and righteousness in Islamic culture.

Featuring the right hand will lend the group’s imagery to a spiritual mission, rather than an ideological pursuit, according to experts.

Further claims followed for attacks on a synagogue in Rotterdam on March 13, a Jewish school on 14 March and a commercial centre on March 16, both in Amsterdam

The Rotterdam synagogue attack, which occurred at around 3.40am, was first reported at 3.57am, with the video claim released around 4.19am.

In the case of the attack against the Jewish school, the incident reportedly took place around 3.45am, with initial mentions already appearing at 3.44am, followed by the video release roughly two hours later.

They also claimed responsibility for the attack on Jewish ambulances in north London on March 23, for which two men aged 10, and 19, and a 17-year-old youth have been arrested and charged.

Julian Lanches at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism think tank said a video of the London attack circulated on Telegram and X channels affiliated with groups of the so-called ‘axis of resistance’, especially Iraqi pro-Iranian Shia militias, as well as pro-Iranian news outlets.

‘Although these attacks have so far resulted in no casualties and only minor damage, they nonetheless display a clear terrorist intent, as evidenced by the deliberate targeting of Jewish sites and subsequent claims accompanied by further threats,’ he said.

Investigators believe Iran has adopted a model pioneered by Russia, an Iranian ally, to deploy ‘useful idiots’ who are recruited using online criminal networks.

Russia’s GRU foreign intelligence agency has used ‘grey-zone’ proxies, recruited online, to run an arson campaign across Europe following the invasion of Ukraine, including an attack on an Ikea store in Lithuania, a warehouse fire in Poland and incendiary devices in DHL warehouses in Germany and Birmingham.

Last October, six British men were jailed after setting fire to a warehouse on the Cromwell industrial estate in Leyton, East London, causing an estimated £1m in damage and destroying vital Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine.

The ring-leader, Dylan Earl, 21, from Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, had been recruited by an automated Russian chatbot trawling for recruits on the encrypted Telegram app and he had then used the same social media app to recruit the rest of the gang by promising them instant payment in cash or cryptocurrency.

Russia and Iran have been ‘strategic allies’ since 2019 and in December 2023, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev was jailed for conducting hostile reconnaissance on a dissident Iranian TV station in West London.

Dovtaev was born in Russia’s Chechen Republic and was living in Austria. He arrived at Gatwick on a Whizz Air flight from Vienna and caught a taxi straight to the Chiswick Business Park, then the base for the TV station Iran International.

Security sources believe Dovtaev was being used as a ‘cut out’ by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who were using a Russian criminal asset to conduct the surveillance.

Yesterday, the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Matt Jukes, warned anyone considering taking payment or being persuaded to carry out actions on behalf of foreign organisations or states.

He said: ‘We know that some individuals are being persuaded or paid to act on behalf of foreign organisations and states.

‘If you act out of hatred, racism or antisemitism, we will come after you and you will face the consequences.

‘For the people who think you can make quick and easy money by committing crimes for others, we will show that they are fools. We will show that they are wrong and they will face consequences.

‘Those who have paid for it will drop them like a stone, and they’ll face justice on their own.’