Golders Green stabbing declared ‘terrorist incident’ as group claims accountability
Counter Terrorism Police have now declared the Golders Green stabbing as a terrorist incident as two Jewish people are being treated in hospital for their injuries
The stabbing that saw two Jewish people rushed to hospital on Wednesday morning has been declared a terrorist incident by counter terrorism police.
Two Jewish men who were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday are aged 76 and 34, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said. He told reporters outside Scotland Yard that the incident has formally been declared a terrorist incident. A 45-year-old man has been arrested following the attack.
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia has now claimed responsibility for the terrorist incident. Commonly known as Ashab al-Yamin, the group has taken credit for attacks against Jewish schools, synagogues and charities in Europe, as well as American, Israeli and Iranian opposition targets, since March 2026.
The incident happened at today (April 29) at around 11.16am in Highfield Avenue. A man was seen running along Golders Green Road armed with a knife and “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”, Jewish security group Shomrim said on social media. Police said the man allegedly tried to stab police officers but was tasered by cops at the scene.
Specialist officers from Counter Terrorism Policing are leading the investigation and working with the Metropolitan Police to establish the full circumstances. The London Ambulance Service says three patients were treated at the scene following the attack. Two were taken to hospital, with the third taken by Hatzola, a volunteer Jewish ambulance service.
Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “This has now formally been declared a terrorist incident. Our highly specialised teams of officers are working with the Metropolitan Police to progress this investigation quickly and establish exactly what has happened.
“We’re also working with our partners in the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture, and one of the lines of inquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London.”
Ben Grossnass from Shomrim, a Jewish security volunteer group, describes how the team responded: “We got a phone call to the hotline saying that there’s a man stabbing people and we sent our members to scene. We were first on scene, and we apprehended him together with the police.
“He was outside the synagogue on Highfield Avenue, and he started stabbing someone outside there. Then he went on down Golders Green Road, and he continued stabbing a visibly Jewish man and he went after him, pushed him over and started stabbing him repeatedly.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in the area, said: “Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. We are grateful to officers who swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm.
“We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area. A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.
“Officers will remain at the scene for some time to carry out further enquiries, speak to local people and offer reassurance.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis says “words of condemnation are no longer sufficient” following this morning’s attack.
He wrote on X: “This must be a moment that demands meaningful action from every institution, every community, every leader, and every decent person in our country. This is a hatred that we must face down together.”
