A knife attack against two Jewish men in north London on Wednesday was declared a terrorist incident, and a man has been charged with attempted murder.<\/p>\n
The attack<\/a> has raised fears across Britain\u2019s Jewish community, which has endured several crimes in recent months that are being investigated as antisemitic. Last month, ambulances owned by a Jewish charity were set alight<\/a> in the same area of London, and two synagogues have been targeted by arson attacks.<\/p>\n Britain also raised its national threat level to \u201csevere<\/a>\u201d from \u201csubstantial\u201d on Thursday, the fourth level of five on its standard scale<\/a>, meaning officials assessed that an attack was highly likely in the next six months.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know.<\/p>\n What happened in the latest attack and who was injured?<\/p>\n Late on Wednesday morning, the police were called to reports of a man attacking people with a knife in the Golders Green neighborhood, a center of Jewish life in London.<\/p>\n Two Jewish men, aged 34 and 76, were treated at the scene for stab wounds, according to the police. Both were taken to a hospital and are in stable condition.<\/p>\n Hours after the attack, the police released body camera footage that showed officers responding at the scene. A man with a knife can be seen approaching the police before he is stopped with an electric stun gun and falls to the ground.<\/p>\n What have the police said?<\/p>\n The police have indicated that this attack was part of a surge of violence against Jewish people and institutions in London. Mark Rowley, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the city\u2019s main force, told reporters on Wednesday that the police \u201chave seen a rise in racist and antisemitic hate crime.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Rowley also alluded to a pattern that has emerged in recent weeks in a series of attacks against the Jewish community across Europe<\/a> that investigators and counterterrorism experts are investigating for potential links to Iran or other state actors.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I cannot comment on live investigations, we know that some individuals are being encouraged, persuaded, or paid to commit acts of violence on behalf of foreign organizations and hostile states,\u201d Mr. Rowley said.<\/p>\n A shadowy online Islamist group, calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, claimed responsibility for this attack in a video shared on the Telegram messaging app some hours after it took place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The group provided no evidence for its claim. It had previously claimed responsibility for a series of arson attacks across Europe that began on March 9. British authorities have not confirmed that the group played a role in the stabbings on Wednesday and experts have urged caution over the claim. Investigators<\/a> are trying to determine whether the group has any links to Iran or its proxies, though the police and security officials have so far stopped short of directly linking the group to Iran.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Keir Starmer met representatives from criminal justice agencies on Thursday morning and promised a \u201cswift and visible\u201d response to those who carried out such attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off,\u201d Mr. Starmer said, speaking to reporters shortly after the meeting. \u201cThis has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly in recent weeks, and there is a very deep sense of anxiety, of concern about security, about safety, about identity, frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n What is known about the suspect?<\/p>\n The suspect in Wednesday\u2019s attack is Essa Suleiman, a 45-year-old British national who was born in Somalia, according to the police, and who came to Britain as a child.<\/p>\n Mr. Suleiman was charged on Friday with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a knife. He will appear in court later in the day.<\/p>\n Earlier, Mr. Rowley had said that the suspect in the case \u201chas a history of serious violence and mental health issues.\u201d Mr. Suleiman was also charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident southeast London on the same date.<\/p>\n The police said that earlier in the day that they had responded to reports of a man with a knife who was believed to have had an altercation with a person at a residential address. The suspect there is believed to be the same person arrested in Golders Green.<\/p>\n He had previously been referred to the country\u2019s Prevent program, the police said on Thursday. Prevent is a government-funded initiative that aims to stop people from becoming terrorists and to divert people before they are radicalized into extremism.<\/p>\n The suspect\u2019s name has not been released. This is normal practice in Britain before charges are filed.<\/p>\n How is the British government responding?<\/p>\n The day after the attack, the government announced an additional 25 million pounds, around $33.7 million, for more police patrols and security for Jewish communities. There had already been an increase in funding to enhance security after a deadly October attack at a synagogue in Manchester<\/a>, in northern England.<\/p>\n