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Global Terror Threat Has Skyrocketed Due to Oct. 7 Hamas Attack, Gaza War, Experts Warn

A man runs on a road as fire burns after rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The threat of terrorist attacks in the West has escalated in the wake of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and amid the ensuing war in Gaza, according to experts who spoke with The Algemeiner.

The brutal success of Hamas’ invasion of the Jewish state last fall, coupled with images emerging from Israel’s military operations against the terror group in Gaza, has sparked a new wave of radicalization, experts argued. Of chief concern has been the emergence of a new wave of so-called “lone wolf” terrorists who gained inspiration from Islamist extremist groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) and have become further galvanized by the current conflict in the Middle East.

“The FBI and others have reported a sharp uptick in terrorist activity, including active recruitment and self-radicalization, since the Oct. 7 attacks and the Israeli response,” said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“This applies across a wide ideological divide and geographic space,” Levitt added. “It includes both organized activities by established groups and lone actors who may be inspired by the sharp rise in terrorist propaganda produced against the backdrop of these events.”

Senior US officials have similarly been warning about a heightened threat of terrorism since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped over 250 others as hostages.

“As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a time when I’ve seen so many different threats, all elevated, all at the same time,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told NBC News in an interview last month.

Earlier in April, Wray told US lawmakers in congressional testimony that he believed small groups or individuals “will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home.” He noted that concerns were rising before Hamas’ attack, but “we’ve seen the threat from foreign terrorists rise to a whole other level after Oct. 7.”

Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of US Northern Command, shared Wray’s sentiment while testifying before Congress in March. Terrorist groups are using Israel’s war against Hamas to encourage more attacks against the US, Guillot argued. However, he added, terrorism has become more dispersed and informal, making it more difficult to combat.

“The increasingly diffuse nature of the transnational terrorist threat challenges our law enforcement partners’ ability to detect and disrupt attacks plotting against the homeland and leaves us vulnerable to surprise,” Guillot said.

Days earlier, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that al Qaeda and ISIS have been inspired by Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, to attack Americans and Israelis.

“While it is too early to tell, both al Qaeda and ISIS, inspired by Hamas, have directed supporters to conduct attacks against Israeli and US interests,” Haines testified to the US Senate Intelligence Committee. “And we have seen how it is inspiring individuals to conduct acts of antisemitism and Islamophobic terror worldwide.”

She added that the Gaza war “will have a generational impact on terrorism.”

The US and its allies have spent years eroding the capabilities and networks of terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and ISIS. Intelligence services have also improved their methods for identifying and thwarting terror plots. As a result, experts believe that smaller-scale groups such as ISIS-K and radicalized individuals present the chief threats to the US homeland.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Experts also noted the threat posed by Iran, which the US government has consistently deemed the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.

“The ongoing and primary terrorist threat is from the Iranian regime and its proxies,” said Marshall Wittman, a spokesperson for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). “That is why it is critical that America stand with its ally, Israel, which is on the front lines in this struggle against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian aggression. American national security interests are aligned with Israel’s battle against Iranian-sponsored terrorism which threatens regional stability in the Middle East.”

Iran is the chief international sponsor of Hamas, providing the terror group with arms, funding, and training.

In addition to spurring a heightened threat of terrorism, the Oct. 7 massacre has also led to a global surge in antisemitism, making the Jewish community a likely target of potential terror plots.

The Anti-Defamation League released a report last month showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, antisemitic incidents have also skyrocketed to record highs in several other countries around the world, especially in Europe, since the Hamas atrocities.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt has said that Oct. 7 unleashed a “tsunami of hate” against Jewish people.

Much of the antisemitism has manifested in the form of violent threats and attacks against Jewish individuals. In late October, for example, authorities arrested a Cornell University student for threatening to “stab” and “slit the throat” of his Jewish classmates. That same month, the FBI foiled a plot to bomb a Jewish gathering in Houston, Texas.

Corey Walker is a journalist based in Washington, DC.

The post Global Terror Threat Has Skyrocketed Due to Oct. 7 Hamas Attack, Gaza War, Experts Warn first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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France Halts Visa Renewals for El Al Staff Amid Growing Airport Worker Protests Targeting Israel Flights

Illustrative: The Israeli flag carrier El Al’s airliner lands at Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates, Aug. 31, 2020. Photo: WAM/Handout via REUTERS

France has reportedly halted visa renewals for security personnel of the Israeli airline El Al amid rising diplomatic tensions, as airport workers in both France and Belgium escalate protests and boycotts against the airline’s flights.

After multiple media reports revealed a six-month delay in renewing stay permits for El Al security personnel in Paris, the Israeli embassy called on French authorities to address the problem, with both governments now engaged in talks to resolve the matter.

The affected staff are Israeli citizens working as ITAN personnel — security employees attached to Israel’s diplomatic missions — for the airline’s Paris operations.

The delays have left some agents in France without legal status, while others have sought temporary diplomatic visas through the Israeli embassy or returned to Israel.

In a separate incident on Monday, El Al made headlines once again after an air traffic controller at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport reportedly shouted “Free Palestine” at one of the airline’s inbound flights during its final approach.

French authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, working closely with Israeli counterparts to ensure a swift and appropriate response.

“El Al takes very seriously the incident that occurred last night, in which a French air traffic controller addressed the company’s pilot in an unprofessional and inappropriate manner,” the Israeli airline said in a statement.

“El Al will continue to fly around the world with the Israeli flag proudly on the aircraft’s tail, while ensuring professionalism and the safety and security of passengers and crew,” the airline continued.

Last week, El Al’s Paris offices were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and pro-Palestinian slogans spray-painted on walls and doors, including messages such as “Palestine will live, Palestine will win,” “To hell with Zionism,” and “Genocidal airline El Al.”

The Israeli Embassy in France attributed the attack to “a climate of violent and unchecked incitement by some French elected officials,” though it did not specify any names.

France, which has experienced a record surge in antisemitic incidents amid the ongoing war in Gaza, has lambasted Israel for its military campaign against the terrorist group Hamas, announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Israeli officials have described the decision as a “reward for terrorism.”

In another incident, airport staff at Brussels Airport are demanding a suspension of Brussels Airlines flights to Israel, citing the alleged “genocide” in Gaza, as the airline prepares to resume service to Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday.

Airport staff have pledged to boycott flights to Israel “until the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank comes to an end.” Local unions representing the workers have called on the airline to exempt employees from assignments involving Israel “for moral reasons.”

These latest incidents come amid a wave of reports across multiple airlines involving targeted harassment of Jewish passengers and coordinated efforts to boycott Israeli carriers.

This week, a Jewish passenger aboard a JetBlue flight was reportedly served a kosher meal labeled with the slur “Zionazi.”

In a press release, JetBlue confirmed it launched an investigation to determine which flight was involved, emphasizing that no complaints or reports have been filed by customers so far.

“We have zero tolerance for hate, bias, or discrimination,” the statement read. “If we determine that any individual associated with JetBlue or our catering partners was involved, we will take swift and appropriate action.”

In a similar incident last week, a Jewish passenger on an Iberia Airlines flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid discovered “Free Palestine” written on their kosher meal tray, prompting the Spanish airline to launch an investigation.

In a separate incident, Spanish airline Vueling faced backlash last month after forcibly removing a group of French Jewish teenagers from a flight from Valencia to Paris, allegedly for singing in Hebrew.

The forced removal of the group has triggered political outrage in France, after their group leader was handcuffed by Spanish police and a government minister insulted the teens as “Israeli brats.”

The Spanish low-cost airline denied the allegations, insisting the incident was not related to religion but rather that the group was removed because of its members’ “highly combative attitude that was putting the safety of the flight at risk.”

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‘Antisemitic Plan’: Over 100 Rabbis Call for Boycott of North Carolina Democratic Party Over Israel Arms Embargo

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, speaks after Democrat Josh Stein won the North Carolina governor’s race, in Raleigh, North Carolina, US, Nov. 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Drake

A coalition of more than 100 rabbis from across the US has issued a blistering public letter condemning the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) for its recent vote in favor of an arms embargo targeting Israel, urging others “not to support or collaborate with” the party’s leadership until they renounce their plan.

The letter, titled “Nationwide Rabbinic Protest Letter Against the NCDP’s Recent Vote for Arms Embargo,” was published as a full-page advertisement in the Charlotte Observer. The signatories, who represent synagogues, Jewish federations, and religious organizations from across the US, accused party leaders of taking a “biased” and “morally unsound” stance that singles out Israel while ignoring threats posed by its adversaries.

In late June, the state executive committee of the NCDP passed a resolution calling for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, claiming that weapons and other military aid that the US has provided Israel “have been used to commit the crime of genocide and other war crimes in Gaza.”

According to the coalition of rabbis, the resolution was a “morally unsound” measure and tantamount to declaring that Israel “is the only country that is not allowed to defend itself.” The letter described the move as an unprecedented “one-sided” action that “shocked us all to our core.”

“Your judgment to single Israel out in such an unprecedented, one-sided way rewards Israel’s adversaries,” the letter read, denouncing the call for an arms embargo as “simply a prejudice that we cannot live with.”

The rabbis called on the public to boycott the NCDP until it apologizes for singling out the world’s lone Jewish state, a staunch ally of the US.

“We call on all Jewish people, their allies, and any person who stands against hate not to support or collaborate with North Carolina’s Democratic Party leadership until they renounce their antisemitic plan of an arms embargo against America’s top ally in the Middle East and until they apologize for the cruel way in which they refused to meaningfully engage with vulnerable minority populations, our fellow Jewish North Carolinians,” the letter stated. “The state of North Carolina will not impact the efficacy of the Israel Defense Forces, but they will make North Carolina less hospitable by marginalizing Jewish people with a regression back to bigotry.”

The group, which includes leaders from Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox congregations, drew parallels to historic Jewish alliances with civil rights leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They argued that cutting off military aid undermines Israel’s security, jeopardizes US strategic alliances, and fuels antisemitism by marginalizing Jewish voices in political spaces.

The rabbis urged allies to reject what they framed as the NCDP’s “hateful anti-Zionism” and to “stand against hate, not support or collaborate with it.”

The letter reflects growing tensions between segments of the Democratic Party and pro-Israel advocates, as some progressive activists push for restrictions on US military aid in response to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank. While such measures have gained traction in local party bodies, they have also sparked backlash from Jewish leaders and more centrist Democrats who view them as undermining Israel’s right to self-defense.

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Iran Says Direct Nuclear Talks With US Possible Under Suitable Conditions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Photo: Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran could hold direct nuclear talks with the United States if conditions are suitable, first Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said on Tuesday, according to state media.

But he said US demands for Tehran to drop uranium enrichment entirely were “a joke.”

A sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington was suspended following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.

Both powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, an accusation Tehran has rejected.

Iran is ready for negotiations under equal conditions in order to safeguard its interests … The Islamic Republic’s stance is in the direction that people want and, should there be suitable conditions, we are even ready for direct talks,” Aref said.

Previous rounds of negotiations, which started in April, were indirect, mediated by Oman. Washington says uranium enrichment in Iran constitutes a pathway to developing nuclear weapons and should be dropped.

On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made a controversial statement in favor of resuming negotiations with the US regardless of current levels of distrust.

“You don’t want to talk? Well then, what do you want to do? Do you want to go to war? … Going to talks does not mean we intend to surrender,” he said, adding that such issues should not be “approached emotionally.”

A senior commander of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards, Aziz Ghazanfari, reacting to Pezeshkian’s comments on Monday, said foreign policy requires discretion, and careless statements by authorities can have serious consequences for the country.

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