Explained: Will Israel-Hamas war cause a global jihad against the West?

Amid the intensifying war between Israel and Hamas, which will soon complete one month, terrorist networks like the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda have now called on their followers to strike Israeli, American and Jewish targets. Since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, killing over a thousand Israelis, al-Qaeda affiliates congratulated the Palestinian militant group on the assault. They urged Muslims to gather against Jews and their "infidel allies".

The IS offered advice on practical steps to fight the Jews and called for attacks against them across the world, specifically in North America and Europe. The IS, however, criticised Hamas for its links to Iran and narrow focus on Israel.

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The remarks by both these terrorist organisations come as Russian President Vladimir Putin's allies warned of a global jihad against the West. So is there a global jihad emerging against the West?

What is jihad?

According to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), jihad refers to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, individuals and the community, to follow and realise God’s will: to lead a virtuous life and to extend the Islamic community through preaching, education, example, writing, etc. Jihad also includes the right, indeed the obligation, to defend Islam and the community from aggression, the UNAOC adds.

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The significance of jihad is rooted in the Quran's command to struggle or exert oneself in the path of God. Now jihad is a concept with multiple meanings, used and abused throughout Islamic history, the UNAOC points out.

The multiple meanings of jihad

Since the late 20th century, jihad has been used by resistance, liberation, and terrorist movements to legitimate their cause and motivate their followers. Some of these examples are: the Taliban waging jihad in Afghanistan against foreign powers; the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad characterising the war with Israel as jihad, and al-Qaeda waging a 'global jihad' against both Muslim governments and the West.

US, UK spy agencies warn on Middle East crisis

The calls by al-Qaeda and the IS to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets have raised concerns among officials in Western countries of a fresh wave of extremist violence.

Last week, heads of the United Kingdom's MI5 and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a rare joint warning that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war could raise domestic terror threats.

MI5's Director General Ken McCallum said there was a risk that “self-initiated” individuals who may have been radicalised online might respond in “spontaneous or unpredictable ways” in the UK after Hamas attacks Israel and what could become a drawn-out conflict.

“Plainly, events in the Middle East sharpen the possibility that Iran might decide to move into new directions,” McCallum said. “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that could include the UK, but we are already operating at a high level of Iran-generated threat,” he added.

The MI5 chief also said he had warned last year that Iran made 10 kidnap or death threats against people based in the UK in a year.

FBI Director Christopher Wray pointed out that there were dangers that terrorist groups or Iran might step up violent activity and that Jewish individuals or organisations could be targeted by both Neo-Nazis and Islamists.

The recent attacks and warnings

There have been a spate of attacks recently in Europe, linked to radicalism. In October, a high school teacher in France was stabbed to death by a former student who swore allegiance to the IS. Twenty-year-old Mohammed Moguchkov said he was acting on behalf of the IS and also made a "very marginal" reference to the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel before he stabbed 57-year-old Dominique Bernard of the Lycee Gambetta High School in Arras.

Moguchkov made these claims in the video recorded before the attack.

In Belgium, a Tunisian migrant living illegally in the country killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels and injured another on October 16. Abdesalem Lassoued, who carried out the attack, was shot dead by police in a cafe. In this incident, the attacker claimed he was a member of the Islamic State.

In May, security services in the Netherlands said that terrorist threats from the IS to Europe increased. During the same month, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that the risk of Islamist terrorism was rising again and that France was being targeted, as well as its neighbours.

Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron was on a solidarity visit to Israel and called for Hamas to be added to the targets of an international coalition against the IS. President Macron said this coalition against IS should also fight against Hamas.

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