A group of five youths reportedly set off fireworks towards the Lauderdale Road Synagogue in Maida Vale, north-west London, on Sunday afternoon as the Jewish community celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Security footage is said to show the youths, described as wearing hoodies, with one keeping watch as two others threw the fireworks, causing smoke and loud bangs before the group fled; the building was empty and nobody was hurt. The synagogue's overseeing body and its rabbi condemned the incident but urged worshippers not to be deterred from attending, while stressing the need for reassurance amid heightened concern within the Jewish community.

The grade II-listed synagogue, which dates from 1896, reported the incident to police and the Community Security Trust (CST), which is investigating alongside officers. The attack follows criticism of Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband over a new trade ban on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis warned could embolden antisemitism, and comes ahead of the anniversary of last year's deadly Heaton Park synagogue attack in Manchester. The CST recorded 1,926 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2026, a 21 per cent rise year-on-year and the second-highest total for that period on record, with 96 incidents targeting synagogues.