Harakat Ashab Al-Yamin Al-Islamiya Attacks Jewish Sites Across Britain, Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands

European intelligence agencies are investigating a growing wave of attacks on Jewish and Israeli-linked sites that security officials believe may be connected to Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI), which the European Conservative says may operate as a proxy for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The walls of the medical room are charred black and the door appears to have melted half away in the flames”

CNN

The European Conservative says HAYI has claimed responsibility for a series of low-level attacks across at least seven European countries, including Britain, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, with incidents involving arson, vandalism, and small improvised explosive devices targeting synagogues and Jewish charities.

CNN

On 29 April, HAYI claimed responsibility for the slashing of two Jewish men near a bus station in Golders Green, and the Global Network on Extremism and Technology says the attack happened in the predominantly Jewish suburb of Golders Green.

The Global Network on Extremism and Technology adds that the attack prompted the UK to raise its threat level to severe, while CNN describes the Kenton United Synagogue in northwest London as one of a string of mainly Jewish sites struck in arson attacks across the British capital and other European cities in the past two months.

CNN reports that a CNN investigation found apparent links between HAYI and an Iran-backed Shia paramilitary group and that Iran-linked operatives used social media to attempt to recruit individuals to carry out surveillance and potential violence against sites linked to the Jewish community in Europe.

In an exchange of messages with CNN, the “VIPEmployment” Telegram account said it was looking to “hire anyone who can harm Israeli interests or individuals,” and CNN says it cannot confirm any direct link between the accounts and the Iranian state or its proxies.

Folha de S.Paulo

The European Conservative says counter-terrorism police in London on Sunday, May 10th, arrested a 45-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson after a fire at a former synagogue in Whitechapel, east London.

The European Conservative also quotes The Washington Institute for Near East Policy saying, “This fits the profile of a lone or opportunistic actor far better than HAYI’s pattern of low-effort harassment and arson,” while Global Network on Extremism and Technology says definitive verification of HAYI’s responsibility for each attack from law enforcement appears to be ongoing.

The Folha de S.Paulo reports that in the United Kingdom, authorities raised the national threat level from substantial to severe, meaning that a terrorist attack is highly likely in the next six months, after more than 12 attacks in the past two months were claimed online by HAYI across the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.

“On a busy London street in broad daylight, a heavyset man walking down a sidewalk brandished a knife and started slashing two Jewish men near a bus station until local security and police tackled him to the ground”

Global Network on Extremism and Technology

Folha de S.Paulo says police stepped up security at synagogues and other Jewish sites, and it adds that in Belgian cities, soldiers have been mobilized alongside police to protect Jewish institutions since mid-March.

The European Conservative says British police say they are conducting their largest-ever community protection operation following multiple arson attacks in north London and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green in April.

In parallel, the Global Network on Extremism and Technology says HAYI has claimed 17 total incidents in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Macedonia, and Greece, while British law enforcement officials have detained at least 28 people in connection with the London attacks alone.