China’s foreign minister on Thursday urged the United States to maintain “stability” between the two powers and warned that Taiwan posed the biggest risk, weeks before President Donald Trump visits Beijing.

In a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing and Washington should “safeguard the hard-won stability” in China-US relations, China’s foreign ministry said.

The talks also discussed the Middle East, where China has been a key partner of Tehran but has largely kept its distance after Trump joined Israel in attacking Iran, sending global oil prices spiralling.

A State Department official confirmed the phone call and said it was to arrange Trump’s trip but did not give further details.

Trump is scheduled to visit China on May 14-15 to see President Xi Jinping — the Republican billionaire’s first trip to the rival power since returning to the White House in January 2025.

During Trump’s first year back in office, Washington and Beijing clashed over trade and tariffs until a truce was declared in October, when Trump and Xi met in South Korea.

“Both sides should safeguard the hard-won stability, prepare well for key high-level interactions, expand areas of cooperation” and manage their differences, Wang told Rubio, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.

While ties have “generally remained stable” under Trump and Xi, Wang “emphasised that the Taiwan issue concerns China’s core interests and is the biggest risk point in China-US relations”, it said.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification and is sharply critical of US military assistance to the self-ruled island and its support of Taipei on the international stage.

“The United States must honor its commitments and make the right choices, opening new perspectives for bilateral cooperation and do its part to promote world peace,” Wang said.

The statement from the Chinese ministry said Wang and Rubio had “exchanged views” on the situation in the Middle East, without offering further details.

Taiwan’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in nearly 39 years thanks to robust demand for artificial intelligence technology, data showed Thursday, despite concerns over the Middle East crisis.

The island is a global powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which power AI, and its economy has been growing at a fast clip in recent years.

But the Iran war has raised concerns about the potential impact on the economy, particularly the critical chips sector, owing to Taiwan’s almost total reliance on energy imports to keep the lights on and production lines running.

Gross domestic product expanded 13.7 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2026, the fastest pace since the second quarter of 1987, according to the statistics agency.

It was also better than the 11.3 percent forecast in a survey by Bloomberg News, and a pick-up from the 12.7 percent recorded in the previous three months.

See also: Taiwan’s TSMC logs net profit jump on AI boom

“The rapid expansion of AI applications has sharply boosted demand for computing power, which in turn has driven strong export momentum for products in AI infrastructure–related supply chains,” said Chiang Hsin-yi, an official at the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.

She added that the impact from the Middle East war “doesn’t seem that evident at this point”, although some data for March “is not that complete yet”.

Taipei has sought to limit the economic impact of the Iran war by absorbing most of the increase in fuel prices, while also ensuring the island has a secure supply of LNG and oil, much of which comes from the Middle East.

Wendell Huang, chief financial officer of chip titan TSMC, said this month that the company did not expect the war to impact its supply of key chipmaking materials such as helium and hydrogen in the near term.

TSMC is the biggest contract maker of microchips that are used in everything from Apple iPhones to Nvidia’s processors.

Nevertheless, Taiwan’s “consumption likely slowed” and “investment probably fell” in the first quarter as sentiment was hurt by the conflict, Bloomberg reported before the data was released.

The export-driven economy grew 8.6 percent in 2025, its fastest pace in 15 years, but is expected to expand 3.5 percent this year.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared on Thursday that the United States had suffered a shameful defeat, defiantly rejecting a warning from President Donald Trump that an economically punishing US naval blockade could be enforced for months to come.

“Today, two months after the largest military deployment and aggression by the world’s bullies in the region, and the United States’ disgraceful defeat in its plans, a new chapter is unfolding for the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz,” said Khamenei in the message read on state television.

The message by Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since his appointment on March 9 as Iran’s new supreme leader, came on the annual national celebration of “Persian Gulf” day in Iran.

Khamenei became the supreme leader after the US and Israel launched a massive campaign of strikes on Iran on February 28, assassinating his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In his Thursday message, he said US bases in the region “lack even the capacity to ensure their own security, let alone provide any hope of securing their allies.”

He hailed what he called Iran’s “new legal framework and management” of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key energy chokepoint, as a means to bring “comfort and progress” for countries in the region.

The strait has become a major flashpoint since the outbreak of the Middle East war, with Iran allowing only a trickle of ships to pass through the waterway.

Khamenei, in his message, predicted a bright future for the Gulf without the US and condemned what he described as “outsiders”, saying those who interfere from thousands of kilometres away “have no place there except at the bottom of its waters”.

“The record of repeated invasions by European and American foreigners —the insecurities, damages, and multiple threats they have imposed on the region’s countries — reflects only a fraction of the malicious schemes of global oppressors against the peoples of the Persian Gulf,” the message read.

He also lauded the people of Iran, who he said “consider all national capacities — identity, spiritual, human, scientific, industrial, and advanced technologies from nano and bio to nuclear and missile — as their national capital”.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had said a US naval blockade imposed in retaliation against Iran’s action in Hormuz was “doomed to fail”.

Pezeshkian added that such measures would “not only fail to enhance regional security, but are in fact a source of tension and a disruption to lasting stability in the Persian Gulf”.

Other figures have also struck a tone of defiance, with Navy Commander Shahram Irani signalling that Iran will deploy “in the very near future” naval weaponry which it has recently developed.

China’s factory activity grew for a second straight month in April, official data showed Thursday, showing resilience despite surging energy prices and shipping disruption caused by the war in the Middle East.

The manufacturing purchasing manager’s index –- a key measure of industrial activity — was 50.3 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), above the 50-point mark that divides expansion and contraction.

That figure fell from 50.4 in March, but was ahead of a forecast of 50.1 in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The world’s second-largest economy has been struggling with a slowdown in domestic demand and investment in recent years that has weighed on its vast manufacturing sector.

March’s figure was the highest in a year, with manufacturing activity contracting in 10 out of 11 months before that.

April’s statistics showed economic output had “maintained expansion” while manufacturing “continued to show a positive trend”, according to NBS statistician Huo Lihui.

There was strong demand for electrical and IT equipment, but weaker market activity for petroleum and coal processing, Huo said in a statement.

But manufacturers faced higher costs as the prices of raw materials rose significantly, particularly in the energy and chemical sectors, Huo said.

The data suggests Chinese producers remain resilient despite global economic disruption caused by the US-Israeli war with Iran that has seen energy prices surge and Tehran restrict access to the vital Strait of Hormuz.

“The PMI index shows the manufacturing sector has not been adversely affected by the conflict in the Middle East,” according to Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.

“The monetary policy stance seems to have a marginally loosening bias, which helps to mitigate the higher energy prices,” he said in a note.

Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics added that exports and strong external demand were the main drivers.

“Soaring demand for memory chips and green tech products likely played a key role,” he said.

Despite the positive factory data, China’s non-manufacturing PMI — a gauge of activity across services and construction — slumped to 49.4 in April, down from 50.1 in March.

Business activity in the wholesale and retail sectors contracted, suggesting consumer demand remains weak.

Pakistan and 10 other countries condemned on Friday in “strongest terms” the Israeli assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla, which they said was as a peaceful civilian humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

A joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Turkiye, Brazil, Jordan, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Maldives, South Africa and Libya said the Israeli attacks against the vessels and the unlawful detention of humanitarian activists in international waters constituted “flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law”.

“The ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of the civilian activists and urge the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release.

“The ministers also call on the international community to fulfil their moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for these violations,” the statement read.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also posted a condemnation on his X account.

211 activists ‘kidnapped’

The condemnation came after organisers of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Thursday said Israel’s army had “kidnapped” 211 activists, including a Paris city councillor, in a raid in international waters off Greece.

Helene Coron, a spokeswoman for the French contingent of Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), told an online news conference that the operation had taken place near the Greek island of Crete, at an “unprecedented” distance from the Gaza coast.

Yasmine Scola, an activist on board the flotilla, said her colleagues had been “kidnapped” by Israel. Israel’s foreign ministry had earlier put the number of those detained at 175.

Former Jamaat-i-Islami senator Mushtaq Ahmad was also a part of the flotilla mission. But it was not immediately clear if he was among those taken into Israeli custody.

Coron said those intercepted included Paris Communist local councillor Raphaelle Primet and another 10 French nationals.

“We don’t have the information for the other nationalities, but the boats were mixed in terms of nationality, so there were crew members from all 48 delegations,” she said.

Rome, in a government statement, called for the immediate release of “all the unlawfully detained Italians”.

The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza announced early on Thursday that their boats had been surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of Crete.

“At the time of publishing this statement (06:30am Paris time, 04:30 GMT), at least 22 of the flotilla’s 58 boats have been stormed by Israeli forces in complete violation of international law,” the GSF said in a statement.

According to an AFP verification, based on tracking data from the organisers, the boats were intercepted in the Greek exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Around 30 boats from the flotilla are still en route, most now in Greek territorial waters south of Crete, according to the same source.

Coron said the operation had taken place over 1,000 kilometres from the Gaza Strip. The longest such operation to date had been 185 kilometres in June 2025, she said.

Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.

The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, set sail in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy.

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, the GSF said its boats had been “illegally surrounded” by Israeli vessels.

“Communications with 11 vessels have been lost,” the organisation added. The flotilla is currently off the coast of Greece, near Crete, according to the organisation’s live tracking on its website.

“Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel’, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees,” the organisation added.

“Boat communications are being jammed, and an SOS was issued.”

A Greek coastguard source told AFP it had responded to a distress signal from the flotilla, but once its patrol boat reached the area, it was told that no assistance was required.

Meanwhile, Ahmad, in a video message posted on his X account overnight, also confirmed that the flotilla had come under attack.

“The Israeli terrorist army has captured 11 of our boats; we have been attacked in international waters by drones and the navy,” the former senator said.

He called on the international community to “wake up” and called on people to “take to the streets and raise their voice for Palestine”.

Last year, Ahmad led the Pakistani delegation on the 45-vessel GSF. However, as it approached Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted it, detaining the activists on board before deporting them. He was detained in Israel for five days before being deported to Jordan.

Activists to be taken to Greece

Hours after Ahmad’s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X: “Well done to our Navy! I instructed them to prevent a Hamas-supporting flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza. The mission was executed with complete success. No ship and no Hamas supporter reached our territory, and not even our territorial waters. They were turned back and will return to their countries of origin. They will continue to see Gaza on YouTube.”

Israel’s foreign minister said that dozens of activists intercepted by its military on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters off Crete would be taken to Greece.

“In coordination with the Greek government, the individuals transferred from the flotilla vessels to the Israeli vessel will be disembarked on a Greek beach in the coming hours,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X, thanking Greece “for its willingness to receive the flotilla participants”.

Israel weaponising access to water in Gaza: MSF

According to a report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Israeli authorities have used access to water as a “weapon against Palestinians, systematically depriving people in Gaza, Palestine, of water in a campaign of collective punishment”.

MSF, in a statement, said that the “deliberate denial of water from Palestinians is an integral part of Israel’s genocide”.

“After the local authorities, MSF is the largest producer and a main distributor of drinking water in Gaza, yet between May and November 2025, one in every five of our water distributions ran dry as our trucks were unable to carry sufficient water for all the people who required it,” the organisation said.

Due to the Israeli military’s displacement orders, MSF teams were unable to reach areas where it previously provided water, the statement said.

It added that around “one-third” of MSF’s requests to “bring in critical water and sanitation supplies have been rejected or left unanswered”.

“These supplies include water desalination units, pumps, chlorine and other chemicals to treat water, water tanks, insect repellent, and latrines,” it said.

MSF warned that the consequences of the deprivation could be “far-reaching on people’s health, hygiene, and dignity”.

Australia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that China has agreed to work together to facilitate exports of jet fuel, in an attempt to ease supply disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.

The conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil transits, have caused fuel prices to soar and left many Asia-Pacific nations facing an energy crisis.

China, a major exporter of jet fuel and diesel to Australia and other countries, has avoided the worst of the war’s energy impacts thanks to its vast oil stocks, but paused exports at the start of the war to protect its domestic supplies.

“I can confirm… that the Chinese government is facilitating engagement with Australian businesses on jet fuel,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Beijing, following talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

She added that the move was “an important step, however, it is the first step”.

Earlier in the day, Wong pressed her case to Han, telling him that refineries in the Indo-Pacific region have been disproportionately affected by the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, according to an Australian foreign ministry readout.

In the talks, she called for greater reciprocity in trade, emphasizing that Australia’s steady supply of raw materials and food to China should be matched by a reliable flow of gasoline, kerosene and fertilizers back to Australia.

“I made the point that the import inputs China supplies to Australia, including jet fuel, support the Australian resources sector, which in turn helps to maintain the flow of commodities that are so important in the bilateral trading relationship,” Wong told the press conference.

China is set to resume exports in May with major state-owned companies applying for licenses to do so, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing industry sources.

Chinese authorities have not commented publicly on the matter.

During her talks with Chinese officials, Wong added: “We were able to speak frankly, as we do, about those areas of difference, including consular issues, human rights, foreign interference, and regional and international security.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for King Charles to “return” the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s, on the third day of the monarch’s state visit on Wednesday.

Before greeting Charles and Queen Camilla at a 9/11 memorial event, Mamdani was asked what he would discuss with the king if he had the chance.

“If I was to speak to the king, separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” the leftist mayor said, adding that his focus would be honoring those killed in the terror attacks.

It’s unclear whether Mamdani followed through and brought up the contentious subject with Charles when the two met.

The monarch was seen laughing with Mamdani and having a brief conversation after they shook hands.

Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain’s crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The ownership of the jewel has been contested over the centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors, Iranian shahs and Sikh maharajas before the Kingdom of Punjab gave it to Queen Victoria in 1849 as part of a peace treaty.

India has repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought the return of the priceless jewel.

While there is little doubt it was mined in India, its history thereafter is a mixture of myth and fact, with several countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan also laying claim to the gem.

A politician from the anti-immigration Reform UK party was quick to slam the comments as an “insult to our King.” “This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London,” the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in an X post. “That is where it will stay”.

White supremacist killer Brenton Tarrant lost on Thursday an appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence for shooting dead 51 people at two New Zealand mosques in 2019, court documents showed.

The 35-year-old admitted to carrying out New Zealand’s deadliest modern day mass shooting before being sentenced to life in prison in August 2020.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal in February, saying “torturous and inhumane” detention conditions during his trial made him incapable of making rational decisions when he pleaded guilty.

“I did not have the mind frame or mental health required to be making informed decisions at that time,” Tarrant said at the time.

The panel of three judges said the court “does not accept Mr Tarrant’s evidence about his mental state.”

“There were inconsistencies in Mr Tarrant’s own evidence, and his evidence is at odds with the detailed observations of prison authorities and the assessments of mental health professionals at the time of him entering his pleas.”

The judges found Tarrant’s guilty pleas were voluntary and “he was not coerced or pressured in any way to plead guilty”.

“The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that he was not suffering any significant psychological impacts as a result of his prison conditions at the time he pleaded guilty,” the court said.

The court said Tarrant’s “proposed conviction appeal is utterly devoid of merit”.

“The facts concerning Mr Tarrant’s offending are beyond dispute. He has not identified any arguable defence, or indeed any defence known to the law.”

‘Huge relief’

Tarrant’s penalty of life imprisonment without parole was the stiffest in New Zealand history.

Armed with an arsenal of semi-automatic weapons, Tarrant attacked worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch on March 15, 2019.

He published an online manifesto before the attacks and then livestreamed the killings for 17 minutes.

His victims were all Muslim and included children, women and the elderly.

The court’s decision was complicated one week after Tarrant’s February hearing when he sought to abandon his appeal entirely.

The judges said the court received a notice of abandonment of appeal signed by Tarrant using a “self-styled moniker” but the document was thrown out because it was not dated or witnessed.

Tarrant filed a second notice later that week, again using a pseudonym, which was dated and witnessed.

He said he “no longer wishes to have a lawyer” and the appeal should not continue as “it would likely lead to a miscarriage of justice”.

Lawyers acting for the survivors and families of victims told national broadcaster RNZ the decision had been a “huge relief”.

“The law has now done its job,” they said.

“The families, and frankly all of us, will be spared the trauma of reliving the 15th of March all over again in a trial.

“It is a huge relief that the difficult and often unsupported journey families are on will not now be added to by the great burden of a new trial. It would have been unimaginably traumatic. “

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly clashed with Democratic lawmakers over the Iran conflict on Wednesday, in his first testimony to Congress since President Donald Trump launched the war more than two months ago.

Appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Heg­seth quickly struck a combative tone, saying in his opening remarks that the main challenge at this point is the “defeatist words of Democrats and some Republicans.”

Representative Adam Smith — the committee’s top Democrat — took aim at the regional fallout from the war and its toll on both US troops as well as civilians, saying he wanted answers on where the conflict is going and “the plan to achieve our objectives.”

He later asked Hegseth how the “lethal, kinetic action” of the war could be turned into an improvement when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington is seeking to eliminate. Hegseth responded by taking aim at the “very bad” nuclear agreement that Trump scrapped during his first term in office.

John Garamendi, another Democrat, accused Hegseth of “lying to the American public about this war from day one” describing what is happening in the Middle East as a “geopolitical calamity, a strategic blunder, resulting in worldwide economic crisis.”

“During the 60 days of Trump’s Iran war, critical munitions have been expended at an alarming rate, depleting magazine levels below what is thought necessary to hold China at bay,” said Garamendi, also describing the conflict as a “quagmire.”

Hegseth pushed back, asking Garamendi “who are you cheering for here?” and saying that calling the war a quagmire was “handing propaganda to our enemies.”

Democratic Representative Seth Moulton asked Hegseth if he advised Trump to attack Iran — a question Hegseth declined to answer, though he later said he thought doing so was “a good idea.”

Asked by Moulton if he had considered the risk of Iran closing the vital Strait of Hormuz if it was attacked, Hegseth said the Pentagon “looked at all aspects of this risk.”

Hegseth was also pressed on the cost of the conflict, which he said was estimated at less than $25 billion so far.

The Pentagon chief then asked the committee: “What is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?”

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026

Oil prices shot higher Wednesday on concerns of an extended blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, while Wall Street stocks mostly slid as investors awaited a US Fed rate decision and a slew of tech firm earnings.

Both main oil contracts jumped nearly six per cent after President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Wednesday that it should “get smart soon” and capitulate to Washington’s demands for tight controls on its nuclear programme, as a US naval blockade turned the screws on Iran’s economy.

Meanwhile, the United States could extend its naval blockade of Iran for months more, oil executives were told in a meeting with Trump, an administration official said.

Analysts warned that such a move would prompt Iran to maintain its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the vital oil shipping route at a near standstill.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged later in the day, with markets closely watching its guidance on inflation as energy costs soar.

The dollar drifted higher against its main peers.

“The longer the conflict persists and the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, the more pronounced the inflationary pressures are likely to become,” said Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown.

International benchmark oil contract Brent crude for June delivery rose to $117.81 a barrel, its highest level since the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect.

“The market is increasingly shifting towards a view that no longer expects a quick and lasting peace, nor an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, warned: “This is a new phase of the war in Iran, and we could now see oil prices go back to the March highs around $120 per barrel for Brent.”

With talks to end the Middle East war appearing to be at a standstill, investors’ attention turned to earnings updates.

Wall Street’s main stock indices were mostly lower in late morning trade.

“As with other financial markets, investors appear to be happy to sit on their hands ahead of tonight’s monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve’s FOMC, and as four constituents of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ prepare to release their latest earnings updates after the close,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Investors will be paying particular attention to spending on artificial intelligence by Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft — and whether it is translating into revenue.

“Given the outsized weighting of these companies in the index, and the enormous capital expenditure they have announced to build AI capabilities, these results will be closely watched by investors,” Hargreaves Lansdown’s Macdonald added.

Tech stocks took a hit on Tuesday following a report in the Wall Street Journal that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI had missed targets on user numbers and revenue.

Stock markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt finished in the red, despite some major companies spiking on strong earnings reports.

Shares in Swiss banking giant UBS jumped more than three percent as its net profit rose 80pc in the first quarter, beating expectations.

Strong quarterly profit growth led shares in German sportswear giant Adidas to jump more than eight percent in Frankfurt.

After a weak lead from Wall Street, Asian stock markets mostly rose Wednesday, with Hong Kong up more than one percent.

Two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday in north London, an attack police declared a “terrorist incident” and which follows a series of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites.

King Charles III, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan led the condemnation of the “appalling” assaults in Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish population.

Police said a 45-year-old man had been arrested after having also tried to stab officers. The two victims — aged 76 and 34 — were in a stable condition in hospital.

Speaking from the scene and facing heckles from some in the local community, Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley said the suspect has “a history of serious violence and mental health issues”.

“Let me be clear: this is an attack on one community (and) an attack on one community is an attack on all London’s communities,” Rowley added.

Starmer echoed the sentiment, saying on X that “attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain” while vowing “those responsible will be brought to justice”.

King Charles III, who is on a state visit to the United States, said he was “deeply concerned” in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

The stabbings come after a spate of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in north London in recent weeks that have heightened security fears for the community.

‘Horrific attack’

Israel’s foreign ministry condemned Starmer’s government shortly following Wednesday’s incident.

“After attacks on synagogues, Jewish institutions, community ambulances and now Jews targeted in Golders Green, the UK government can no longer claim this is under control,” it said on X.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is also head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said the stabbings had “now formally been declared a terrorist incident”.

Counter-terror officers and the capital’s Metropolitan police were “also working with the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture”, he added.

“One of the lines of enquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community,” Taylor noted, standing outside the Met’s New Scotland Yard headquarters in central London.

The incident unfolded shortly after 1000 GMT, with the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch group first reporting that a knife-wielding man was “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public”.

Shomrim members helped detain the suspect before police arrived and subdued him using an electroshock weapon. The response of the Jewish volunteers earned widespread praise.

The victims were also treated at the scene by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer ambulance service.

The stabbings follow a deadly assault on a synagogue in Manchester last October on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. That attack killed two people and seriously injured three, prompting increased anxiety among Jewish communities.

“Why do we have to live in fear? We’re doing our best to live our lives as normal as possible but everyday is a struggle,” Shomrim volunteer Stephen Bak told AFP at the Golders Green scene on Wednesday.

‘Shocking’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called the spate of anti-Semitic attacks “shocking”.

“There must be absolutely no place for antisemitism in society,” he added on X.

Ephraim Mirvis, Britain’s chief rabbi, said the community was “strong” and “resilient” but “such attacks need to stop now”.

“Zero tolerance — that’s what our community wants,” he told reporters from the scene.

“Our society needs to know this is intolerable… We would like to see actions added to words.”

The first London attack in late March saw four ambulances belonging to Hatzola set ablaze.

Other incidents have followed, including an attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow as well as the premises of a Jewish charity.

Last week, the Finchley Reform Synagogue was targeted.

Police have arrested at least 26 people for the various attacks, launched since the start of the US-Iran war on Iran on February 28.