Poster of missing Israeli children defaced with Hitler moustache in London as police launch hate crime investigation

25 October 2023, 14:18 | Updated: 25 October 2023, 14:37

Police are investigating a hate crime after a poster of missing Israeli children was defaced to give them Hitler moustaches in North London.

The leaflet had a picture of Emma and Yuli Cunio, both aged three, who it says were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 attack.

Posters of the roughly 200 abducted people have been put up across London but several have either been torn down or defaced.

The image of Emma and Yuli has been drawn over to give them Hitler moustaches and monobrows.

The Met said in a tweet it was "appalling".

Read more: Outrage as grinning activists seen tearing down posters of Israeli hostages in Leicester Square

"Police have been made aware of a number of photos that have been posted on social media today of posters which have been defaced in the Finchley Road area," a statement said.

"We fully understand the distress this will cause to local communities. Police are investigating the incident and are treating it as a hate crime.

"Local officers have immediately responded and will be focused on the area to carry out reassurance patrols.

"If you have any information that could assist our investigation relating to this, please call 101 stating CAD2459/25OCT23."

One Twitter used asked "What has Britain become??" while another said "This is making me feel sick".

It comes after shocking footage showed people grinning as they ripped down posters of missing Israelis in Leicester Square.

Read more: Ten Israeli peace activists taken hostage by Hamas, with 'another nine murdered'

The leaflets say more than 3,000 people aged between three months and 85-years-old were either murdered, raped, wounded or separated from loved ones by Hamas.

"Please help bring them home alive," the poster says.

Two women and a man tore down posters put up in Leicester Square on Tuesday night.

A man filming them asks "You don't love human life?"

One of the women replies: "I do love humans."

One of the men tearing the posters down can be seen grinning as he walks off.

Speaking to an LBC reporter, one commuter in Leicester Square branded the act "atrocious" and called for the police to take action.

In London, anti-Semitic incidents have risen by 1,350% compared to this time last year, spiking drastically since Hamas's massacre in which 1,400 people were killed.

Israel has vowed to secure the hostages and some have been released while Hamas has offered to let go of 50 more dual nationals if the government allows fuel into Gaza.

Negotiations are being carried out with the help of Egypt and Qatar. The Israel Defence Forces have already carried out raids aimed at rescuing captured civilians.