Israel-Hamas war raises fears of global extremist attacks

US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher A. Wray has voiced his concerns over the threat of terrorism in recent months, saying that he fears “lone-wolf” attacks by those angered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Some American national security experts are also concerned about the threat of ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius recently noted — and think that the organization is “playing the long game.” They worry that ISIS-K, which recruits from Central Asian countries, could carry out an attack on Europe or the US. The organization “is reshaping its propaganda” to reach Central Asian immigrants, Ignatius noted. For now, though, “officials see the raw ingredients for an attack, rather than specific plans.”

The Israel-Hamas war has bolstered the anti-Western propaganda arms of major militant organizations such as al-Qaeda and IS, who have been able to galvanize followers through depictions of Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip, The Economist noted. Extremist content is proliferating online, and “Jihadist tracts and videos are distributed in many languages,” the outlet noted. Some organizations, which had previously diminished in their reach and capabilities, are now starting to regroup. That means the threat of an attack on a Western nation could be climbing, The Economist added.

The relative threat of terrorism in the US is low compared to the past two decades, a February report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted. Instead, the risk lies in the rise of violent far-right — and to a lesser extent far-left — extremists, the authors argued. That causes a problem for counterterrorism efforts, since most governments have prioritized preparations for foreign threats. As a result, “governments now face mismatched authorities and internal divisions in responsibilities that make it difficult to effectively coordinate security responses to domestic terrorism.”