Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 7, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Hamas’ October 7th invasion of Israel has become a ‘recruiting opportunity’ for terrorist groups around the world, says top US counter-terror official.
By World Israel News Staff
Terror organizations across the Middle East and around the world are using Hamas’ invasion of southwest Israel on October 7th as a “recruiting opportunity,” bolstering their ranks, a senior American counter-terror official warned recently.
On Friday, The Washington Post published an interview with the outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Brett Holmgren, who said that the Gaza invasion of Israel has dramatically altered the environment in which terrorists operate globally, enabling greater recruitment by terror cells but also fueling a wave of ‘lone wolf’ attacks.
Holmgren called October 7th “was and will be a generational event that terrorist organizations in the Middle East and around the world use as a recruiting opportunity.”
Pointing to a rash of attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, Holmgren noted that the impact of October 7th was not confined to the Middle East, and included a surge in apparently undirected nationalistic or jihadist lone-wolf attacks, such as the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in France recently.
“We’ve already seen that play out to some degree in Europe.”
The invasion, the subsequent war between Israel and Gaza, and America’s relationship with Israel are among “the global ramifications that 7 October has had, and is likely to have, on the perception of the United States in the region and among most Muslim countries,” Holmgren added.
Anger on the Arab street over American military aid to Israel has served as “inspiration for lone actors,” Holmgren said.
Friday’s interview as published as Holmgren stepped down from his position at the State Department’s intel bureau, after being tapped to serve as acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, replacing Christine Abizaid.
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