Great Britain’s counterterrorism police confirmed that an act of terrorism took place at a synagogue in Manchester, England, earlier today while services were being held for the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur. The assailant murdered two people and wounded four in a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack.
Greater Manchester Police activated “Operation Plato” when it received reports of a car being driven into a pedestrian outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue shortly after 9:30 in the morning. Operation Plato is a code for the police response to “Marauding Terrorist Attacks,” which are “fast-moving, violent attacks where assailants move through a location aiming to find and kill or injure as many people as possible.”
Police stated that the suspect deliberately rammed his car into members of the public outside the synagogue. The suspect then exited his vehicle and stabbed “anyone near him,” a witness said. After failing to enter the synagogue, the man was shot and killed by police officers.
Law enforcement authorities confirmed that they know the identity of the attacker but have not released it due to unspecified “safety reasons at the scene.” A bomb disposal squad was at the scene of the attack due to concerns that the suspect had an explosive device on his person. Two individuals have been arrested; however, their relationship to the attacker has not been disclosed.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the attack and stated that the government will do “everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe.”
Threats against the Jewish community in Europe have risen since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. One day prior to today’s attack on the Manchester synagogue, German police arrested three Hamas members “for allegedly planning attacks on Israeli and Jewish institutions in Germany,” the BBC reported. Police confiscated a rifle, pistols, and ammunition during the raid. Earlier this year, German prosecutors charged four Hamas operatives who established an attack network that sought to target Jews throughout Europe.
In the UK, incidents of antisemitism remain high. According to the Community Security Trust, there have been 9,345 antisemitic incidents reported in the UK from the beginning of 2023 until the end of June 2025, with 4,296 incidents reported in 2023 alone.
