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LONDON: Police were investigating on Monday what they called a hate crime after a mosque was set on fire in an English coastal town.
Emergency services responded to reports of a fire at the Peacehaven Mosque at around 9:45 p.m. (2245 GMT) on Saturday. 
The front entrance of the mosque and a vehicle parked outside were damaged, but no one was injured, according to Sussex Police.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack. Starmer’s spokesperson said that the prime minister was “appalled by the arson attack in Peacehaven.”
Footage from the incident, released on Sunday by police, shows two balaclava-clad people approach the front door of the mosque, before spraying accelerant on the entrance and igniting a fire.
Political and religious leaders condemned the attack and urged people to stand united.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the attack was “deeply concerning.”
“This country’s greatest strength has been its ability to build one nation from many communities,” she said. “Attacks against Britain’s Muslims are attacks against all Britons and this country itself.”
“This hateful act does not represent our community or our town,” a spokesperson for Peacehaven mosque said. “Peacehaven has always been a place of kindness, respect, and mutual support, and we will continue to embody those values.”
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also condemned the attack, adding that “every faith community has the right to worship free from fear.”
Detective Inspector Gavin Patch said police were treating Saturday’s fire as arson with intent to endanger life. 
Evidence from the scene suggested it was started deliberately, according to the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.
“This was an appalling and reckless attack which we know will have left many people feeling less safe,” Patch said.
There has been an increased police presence at the scene and other places of worship across Sussex, a region in southeastern England, to provide reassurance, the force said.
The attacks come amid high tensions over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held regularly across the UK since the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but some people say they have allowed antisemitism to spread. A handful of pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested for supporting Hamas, which is banned in the UK.
On Saturday, about 1,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square to protest against the banning of Palestine Action. This direct action group has vandalized British military planes and targeted sites with links to the Israeli military. It has been labeled a terrorist organization by the government, making support for the group illegal.
A day later, hundreds of people waving Israeli and British flags rallied in London and Manchester to mark nearly two years since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and demand the hostages’ release and mourn the victims of Thursday’s synagogue attack.

ATHENS: Greece’s foreign ministry said 161 nationals from 16 European countries landed in Athens on Monday after being expelled by Israel for taking part in a Gaza aid flotilla.

Israel on Monday deported more activists who were on the flotilla bound for the devastated Palestinian territory, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The 45-vessel flotilla had been aiming to break an Israeli blockade to deliver aid to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has taken hold after two years of devastating conflict.

“A special repatriation flight landed safely in Athens carrying the 27 Greek citizens who took part in the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla’,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

“This flight also facilitated the return of 134 nationals from 15 European countries,” it added, without elaborating.

According to the Swedish branch of the Global Movement for Gaza, the deported Swedish nationals were on board the flight.

At Athens International Airport, activists unfurled a huge Palestinian flag in the arrivals hall and chanted “Freedom for Palestine” and “Long live the flotilla!,” AFP reporters saw.

The Global Sumud flotilla departed from Barcelona in Spain in early September.

The vessels were boarded by the Israeli navy off Egypt and the Gaza Strip between October 1 and 3.

Israel, which accuses the flotilla of being an offshoot of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement with which it has been at war for two years in the Gaza Strip, claims that the boats violated a prohibited zone and that no humanitarian aid was found on board the vessels.

The ships were forcibly diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod. According to Israeli police, more than 470 people aboard the flotilla boats were arrested.

The first deportations began on October 2 and currently 138 flotilla participants remain in detention in Israel, the foreign ministry told AFP.