Amid horror of Israel-Hamas war, al-Qaeda, Islamic State call for global attacks

The Israel-Hamas war might spread tothe West Asian region, or even in the far West, including nations like the United States and the United Kingdom, as al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) have asked their followers to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets.

In the past two weeks, militant groups linked to al-Qaeda have congratulated the Palestine-based Hamas on its "invasion of Israel".

On Oct 7, Hamas militants launched unprecedented attacks on Israel, killing over 1,400 people and injuring hundreds. They also took around 200 people as hostages.

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Israel, in retaliatory action, officially declared war on Hamas, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to reduce to "rubble" the group's hideouts in Gaza.

Massive destruction has been reported and hundreds of people have been killed on both sides, with tensions escalating each day.

Al-Shabaab, which is al-Qaeda's powerful affiliate in Somalia, said in a statement that the conflict in West Asia was not just "the battle of the Islamic factions in the land of Palestine in particular, but rather the battle of the entire Muslim Ummah".

"Muslims must gather and offer everything they can to support the mujahideen against the Jews and their hypocritical infidel allies. The strength of this nation lies in the strength of its jihadist fronts," it added.

Some other groups which are affiliates of al-Qaeda and based in the Indian subcontinent, Yemen, and Syria also echoed al-Shabaab's calls.

The Long War Journal, which is a US-based news website that reports on the war on terror, said that al-Qaeda branches in North and West Africa praised the Hamas attacks on Israel.

While hailing the Oct 7 attacks, the group said, "We congratulate your actions and urge you to continue, biting your teeth with patience on the path of jihad. They [the Palestinians] attacked the Jews … wanting to lift the sword of humiliation from their necks."

Such calls have raised the prospects of new terrorist violence across the world. It already seems to have spread, with reports of violent protests and violence in different parts of the world.

Watch:Pro-Palestine rallies across the world

Hamas got instructions on how to make chemical weapons

Israeli President Isaac Herzog claimed that Hamas fighters who attacked Israel were carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons. During an interview with Sky News, President Herzog showed documents, complete with diagrams.

During the interview, Herzog said: "It's al-Qaeda material. Official al-Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hamas. This is how shocking the situation is where we're looking at the instructions that are given on how to operate and how to create a kind of non-professional chemical weapon with cyanide."

However, there's no confirmation of whether or not the Hamas military was carrying the elements to make a bomb on them.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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