On Thursday, during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, a devastating terrorist attack unfolded at a Manchester, England, synagogue. The assailant, identified as 35-year-old Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, killed two people and seriously injured three others. Police swiftly responded, fatally shooting al-Shamie minutes after he began his assault, first with a car and then with a knife.
Authorities are still working to determine the motivation behind the attack. Three individuals—two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s—have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in acts of terrorism and remain in custody. Initially, a vest worn by the attacker was reported to have the “appearance of an explosive device,” but investigators later confirmed it was not capable of detonation.
The horrific incident, widely captured and shared on social media, commenced when the attacker drove a vehicle into pedestrians outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation. This synagogue is located in the vibrant Orthodox Jewish community north of Manchester. After crashing the car, the assailant exited and began stabbing individuals with a knife. Fortunately, security guards and other courageous members prevented him from breaching the synagogue, where morning Yom Kippur prayers had just started. A significant congregation was inside at the time and was initially instructed to shelter in place before being safely evacuated. This attack sent shockwaves through Manchester’s Jewish community, leading to heightened police presence and security measures at Jewish cultural and religious sites across the United Kingdom.
Here’s what else to know:
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Terrorism Designation: British police officially classified the incident as an act of terrorism. This classification follows a legal definition of terrorism, requiring evidence of violence perpetrated “for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.” Specific details on the classification’s immediate basis were not released.
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Heightened Security: The attack has left both Manchester and the entire UK on high alert. Security has been significantly increased at Jewish community centers and cultural sites nationwide. In London, a suspicious package prompted a 30-minute evacuation of one of the city’s busiest train stations.
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Widespread Condemnation: The attack drew swift condemnation from across the political spectrum. Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the assailant as “a vile individual who wanted to attack Jews because they are Jews.” Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, labeled it a “vile and disgusting attack.” International figures, including Israeli politicians, also expressed solidarity with the UK’s Jewish community while some voiced criticism of the British government.
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Vibrant Jewish Community: Manchester, a major English metropolitan area, is home to the largest Jewish community in the UK outside London, with approximately 30,000 residents. The city also has a larger Muslim population, contributing to its rich multicultural fabric, shaped by centuries of immigration.
British officials revealed late Thursday that Jihad al-Shamie, the identified attacker, arrived in the United Kingdom as a “very young child” and was granted British citizenship in 2006. Specialist counterterrorism investigators continue to probe the attack’s motivation. Police records indicate al-Shamie had not been previously flagged as a potential threat by Britain’s official counterterrorism program. Searches are currently underway at two residences connected to al-Shamie and the arrested individuals: one in Crumpsall, close to the synagogue, and another in Prestwich, approximately two miles away. Three men who sustained serious injuries during the attack are still hospitalized. One victim was hit by the vehicle, another suffered a stab wound, and a third presented to the hospital with an injury possibly sustained during the police’s intervention to stop the attacker.
Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent, has been formally identified by Counter Terrorism Policing as the perpetrator. Three other individuals (two men in their thirties and a woman in her sixties) have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related offenses, which encompass plotting such attacks in Britain. Their identities remain undisclosed due to privacy regulations.
The attack may unite two rivals, Manchester’s mayor and Britain’s prime minister.
In the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack, political figures, including Manchester’s popular mayor, Andy Burnham, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are likely to find common ground in condemning the violence and supporting the affected community. Mayor Burnham, a Labour Party member known for his outspoken nature and recent criticisms of Starmer, confirmed the “serious incident” early Thursday. Minutes later, police announced the fatal shooting of the attacker, who had rammed a vehicle into people and wielded a knife outside the synagogue.
Both leaders swiftly condemned the attack, which occurred on Yom Kippur, a deeply sacred day for Jews. Burnham expressed solidarity with Greater Manchester’s Jewish community, pledging support. Starmer, cutting short a European summit, echoed these sentiments from Downing Street, assuring Jewish citizens that “Britain will come together to wrap our arms around your community and show you that Britain is a place where you and your family are safe, secure and belong.” While such unity in the face of tragedy can sometimes be fleeting, on Thursday, leaders across the political spectrum, including Kemi Badenoch of the Conservative Party and Nigel Farage of Reform UK, united in expressing shock and horror over the attack.
‘Appalled,’ ‘horrified,’ ‘sickening’: Leaders and residents condemn the Manchester attack.
The deadly synagogue attack in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur triggered a wave of international condemnation. Leaders worldwide expressed shock and outrage over the violence that killed two people and injured others. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “barbaric,” while opposition leader Yair Lapid urged forceful action against antisemitic incitement. UN rights chief Volker Turk condemned “crimes targeting religious communities” as “utterly deplorable.”
The U.S. Ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, described the attack as “sickening” and a “stark reminder of the rise of antisemitism.” However, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also criticized British authorities for perceived past failures to combat “rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, returning early from a European summit, condemned the “vile individual” who attacked Jews and British values, promising increased police protection for synagogues. French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed solidarity with the victims, calling it an “antisemitic terrorist attack.”
Manchester is home to Britain’s largest Jewish population outside London, and has many other communities.
Manchester, a sprawling metropolitan area, boasts the UK’s second-largest Jewish community, with approximately 30,000 residents. This diverse city also hosts an even larger Muslim population, representing one-fifth of its 550,000 citizens. According to local lawmaker Graham Stringer, this unique demographic creates “a very large Jewish community next to a very large Muslim community.”
Historically, relations among Manchester’s various ethnic and religious groups have been largely harmonious. However, as Stringer notes, “there are always extreme people who want to damage those relationships.” Manchester’s multicultural identity is a product of centuries of immigration. Jewish communities first arrived in the 18th century, with significant growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as people fled persecution in Eastern Europe and Nazi Germany. Later, post-decolonization, migrants from across the Commonwealth and beyond, including from Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, further enriched the city’s diversity.
The city has also faced challenges, such as the 2017 suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena, which brought attention to its Libyan community. Salman Abedi, the perpetrator, had ties to the Libyan civil war. A Manchester City Council strategy document from 2023-26 acknowledges that social cohesion is vulnerable to “local, national and international events and politics,” and warns that misinformation on social media can “rapidly inflame community tensions.”
The attack in Manchester comes amid a rising wave of antisemitism.
This deadly synagogue attack in Manchester tragically coincides with a global surge in antisemitism, particularly evident in Britain. The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitic incidents in the UK, recorded 1,521 such cases between January and June of this year. This alarming figure, encompassing physical assaults, property damage, graffiti, and online abuse—including three instances of “extreme violence”—marks the second-highest rate ever reported by the trust.
The highest recorded number, 2,019 cases, occurred in the first half of 2024, following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza. These events, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have fueled protests across Europe. A recent report by the Runnymede Trust, a British social justice think tank, suggests that the current approach to protecting Jews from hate crimes may be failing, potentially exacerbating tensions by creating a “hierarchy of racisms.” David Feldman, director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, noted that the conflation of anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel with antisemitism has deepened these divisions, while acknowledging that “the left has too often failed to recognize antisemitism.”
The Greater Manchester Police confirmed that a device previously thought to be an explosive, worn by the attacker, was found to be non-viable. Furthermore, the “Operation Plato” emergency protocols for terror attacks have been stood down, signaling that authorities believe there is no longer an active threat. Manchester resident Martin Hamer recounted witnessing the suspected attacker trying to force entry into the synagogue through a window, just moments before police arrived. Hamer, initially drawn to what he believed was a traffic accident outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, quickly realized the gravity of the situation. “As we got nearer,” he explained, “we realized there was a guy dead on the floor, and there was another guy fighting for his life in front of the car.” Hamer, whose daughter later shared his video footage on Facebook, stated that police appeared within minutes and opened fire. Police praised a quick-thinking witness whose immediate call prevented the attacker from entering the synagogue.
King Charles III issued a statement expressing profound sadness and shock over the “horrific attack in Manchester,” particularly noting its occurrence on “such a significant day for the Jewish community.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer has returned to Downing Street from a European leaders’ conference in Copenhagen. He is scheduled to chair an emergency government committee meeting this afternoon to address the national crisis.
A substantial congregation was observing services inside the synagogue during the attack. They were kept indoors for safety before being successfully evacuated. A bomb disposal unit was also deployed to the scene. Three injured individuals remain in serious condition, according to police reports.
Here’s how the U.K. police determine whether an attack is terrorism.
Following the vehicle-ramming and stabbing incident at a Manchester synagogue on Thursday, British authorities are yet to officially confirm if it’s being treated as terrorism. The Greater Manchester Police initially “declared Plato,” activating Operation Plato protocols for armed officers and emergency services in response to major incidents, including potential terrorist attacks.
The assault resulted in at least two fatalities and three injuries, with the assailant being fatally shot by armed officers. Counterterrorism police are routinely involved in initial responses to mass violence in Britain, irrespective of a clear motive. The formal designation of an act as terrorism rests with Britain’s Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing. This decision requires assessing available evidence against the legal definition of terrorism, which involves violence “for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.” The process is meticulous, involving analysis of witness accounts, suspect devices, and personal histories to ascertain ideological motives versus other factors.
A 2017 terror attack in Manchester was one of Britain’s deadliest.
Today’s synagogue attack recalls a tragic precedent in Manchester: the May 2017 suicide bombing at Manchester Arena, a devastating event where an Islamic State sympathizer detonated an an explosive device among concert-goers. That attack, which killed 22 people—including many children—and injured hundreds, was planned by Salman Abedi, 22, and his brother, Hashem Abedi, now serving a life sentence. As of now, authorities have not officially classified Thursday’s synagogue attack as terrorism, which resulted in at least two deaths and several injuries.
Manchester also experienced another significant attack on December 31, 2018, when Mahdi Mohamud, a Dutch citizen, carried out a stabbing near Manchester Arena’s entrance, which police later declared a terror incident. Mohamud, who injured two civilians and a police officer, was apprehended and later committed to a high-security psychiatric hospital after shouting Islamist slogans. Since 2017, Britain has seen 19 violent incidents formally declared as terrorism. Of these, 11 were linked to Islamist motives, five to right-wing extremism, one to left-wing extremism, and two had unclear motives.
What we know about the suspect?
The attacker, who was shot by armed officers, was killed. The police identified him as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Mr. al-Shamie had not been previously flagged as a threat to Prevent, Britain’s counterterrorism operation, the police said, and investigators were still seeking to identify a motive in the attack. Three suspects were arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism, the police said. The offense covers the plotting of terrorism attacks in Britain. The police did not name the suspects but identified them as two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s. Two homes linked to the attacker and suspects were being searched, the police said, one in Crumpsall, a short distance from the synagogue, and one in the town of Prestwich, around two miles away. Footage taken by a witness and verified by The New York Times earlier on Thursday showed two armed police officers with their rifles aimed at the suspected attacker, who was on the ground outside the synagogue, as an injured person lay nearby. In the video, which was posted to Facebook, one of the officers told people at the synagogue gates to move back, shouting: “He has a bomb. Go away.” Moments later, the person on the ground appeared to be trying to get up, and the police fired at least one shot. The man fell back to the ground.
Was it a terrorist attack?
The attack was an act of terrorism, said Laurence Taylor, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing in the United Kingdom. Greater Manchester Police said in a statement that they had declared “Plato” shortly after being called to the scene, referring to Operation Plato, a set of protocols for armed police officers and emergency services when responding to major incidents, including “marauding terrorist attacks.” Later in the day, the police said the protocols were being stood down. To declare that an attack was terrorism, Britain’s Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing looks at the information immediately available after an attack to decide whether it meets Britain’s legal definition of terrorism, which covers violence “for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.” The process can involve analyzing evidence including witness accounts, suspects’ electronic devices and information about their personal background to determine whether they had an ideological motivation or if the attack was driven by other factors.