Religious hate crimes in England and Wales have risen sharply over the past two years, reflecting rise in community tensions since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023.
According to Home Office data released on Thursday, police recorded over 10,000 additional hate crime offences since the end of March this year. While that figure represents a slight drop from 2024, it is still nearly 20 percent higher than the numbers reported in March 2023.
Officials cautioned, however, that the data may not be directly comparable due to changes in the Metropolitan Police’s reporting systems, the force that handles the majority of hate crime cases in the country.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), combined data from the years ending March 2023 to March 2025, estimated around 176,000 hate crime incidents were recorded annually.
Both antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents have surged since March 2023. Offences against Muslims rose by almost one-third to 4,478, while hate crimes targeting Jews nearly doubled to 2,873.
The sharp escalation followed the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which ignited the ongoing conflict in Gaza and fueled divisions within communities across Britain.
The Home Office added that earlier statistics might have been inflated by outdated recording software, suggesting that the true rise in hate crimes in recent years could be even higher.
The College of Policing’s 2020 guidance defines hate crime as any offence perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or transgender identity.
It notes that offences can include xenophobic elements and that the perceived religion targeted may differ from the victim’s actual faith.
Only cases with evidence of hostility can be prosecuted as hate crimes. While not all terrorist acts qualify, those driven by, hatred toward one of the five monitored strands, such as the 2017 Finsbury Park Mosque attack are included.
Tensions reached a breaking point last week after a deadly stabbing outside a Manchester synagogue left two people dead and four others injured.
British authorities have identified the suspect as Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent. He entered the UK as a child and was granted citizenship in 2006, according to the Associated Press.
Police described the attack, which occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, as an act of terrorism.
Al-Shamie reportedly drove a car into a crowd before stabbing worshippers outside the synagogue. Armed officers shot him dead at the scene, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack, calling it a grave reminder of the threat posed by rising antisemitism. In a video message, he vowed to do “everything in his power” to protect Britain’s Jewish community and to confront the growing tide of hate.
