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Assailant Tries to Torch Hatzalah Vehicle in New York City, Police Investigating as Possible Hate Crime
An assailant tried to torch a Hatzalah vehicle in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The New York City Police Department is investigating the arson as a possible hate crime. Photo: Screenshot
An assailant was caught on video attempting to torch a Hatzalah ambulance parked on the street in New York City last week in an incident that police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
Hatzalah volunteer ambulances serve predominantly Jewish communities around the world.
The New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crime Task Force is searching for the suspect who, in surveillance camera footage, can be seen wearing khaki shorts, a light blue t-shirt, and holding an unidentifiable beverage. In the footage, the suspect casually walks up and bends down next to the Hatzalah vehicle.
Blurry surveillance camera footage captures the Hatzalah arson suspect walking up to the ambulance. He is holding an unidentifiable bottle in his hand. Photo: Screenshot
In the next frame of the video, after the man kneels beside the car, a fire spreads in the rear of the vehicle near the rear tire and tail pipe.
SHOCKING FOOTAGE
A man was caught on CCTV setting fire to a Jewish emergency vehicle in NYC, prompting a manhunt by the NYPD Hate Crime Unit. The incident involved a Hatzalah vehicle in the Lower East Side. pic.twitter.com/LcWOIuF9cR
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 12, 2024
The attempted arson occurred in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Grand Street near Madison Avenue, a few blocks from Hatzalah’s Lower East Side Garage. The area is home to several synagogues including the Young Israel of Manhattan and the historic Bialystoker Synagogue.
Joel Petlin, superintendent of the Kiryas Joel school district and a commentator, lambasted the incident on X / Twitter, writing, “Nothing says ‘Free Palestine’ quite like someone in New York City setting fire to a first responder vehicle owned by Hatzalah, a respected organization that serves the Jewish community and anyone else who calls for their emergency medical services.”
Meanwhile, at 500C Grand Street, roughly two blocks from where the arson took place, a Jewish family found the message “Hate You Jew” scrawled onto their apartment door. The NYPD is investigating the graffiti. A representative from the apartment building management company commented to Hamodia Magazine that they condemn the “despicable, antisemitic incident” and are fully cooperating with the NYPD’s investigation.
Hatzalah Emergency Medical Services is the largest nonprofit, volunteer ambulance service in the US. It was founded in Brooklyn in 1965 and serves all people in need, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.
Recently, New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams attended a fundraiser for Hatzalah’s sister organization in Israel, United Hatzalah. “This organization really personifies the Jewish community,” Adams told the crowd. “I say over and over again, United Hatzalah quietly carries out your role of giving back to humanity. People don’t realize how much you’ve given back so often.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported earlier this year that antisemitic incidents in New York State skyrocketed by 110 percent last year, with almost 14 percent of such incidents in America in 2023 taking place in New York. Most of the outrages occurred after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, during the ensuing war in Gaza.
The post Assailant Tries to Torch Hatzalah Vehicle in New York City, Police Investigating as Possible Hate Crime first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.