Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes in London have soared amid the Israel-Hamas war, the British capital’s Metropolitan Police Force said on Friday.
The Palestinian militants Hamas stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.
According to the Hamas health ministry in Gaza, more than 4,130 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombardments in retaliation.
The Met, the biggest police force in the United Kingdom, said that there had been 218 anti-Semitic offenses in London between October 1 and 18, compared to 15 in the same period last year.
Islamophobic crimes had risen from 42 to 101 during the same period, the force added.
Police increased patrols across parts of London and deployed officers to religious schools and places of worship following Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel.
“Regrettably, despite the increased presence of officers we have seen a significant increase in hate crime across London,” the Met said, adding it had made 21 detentions for such offenses.
The arrests included a man detained on suspicion of defacing posters of missing Israelis.
Another man is accused over ten incidents of Islamophobic graffiti on bus stops.
The UK government has said there should be “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or glorification of terrorism” on Britain’s streets.
Last week it announced $3.7 million of extra funding to help protect the Jewish community from anti-Semitic attacks.
Last weekend tens of thousands of people rallied in London and other UK in support of Palestinians.
Another pro-Palestinian march is organized for London on Saturday. More than 1,000 officers are to police the event, the Met said.
The force reiterated that while backing Hamas is a crime, general expressions of support for Palestinians, including waving the Palestinian flag, are not criminal offenses.
