European nations fear renewed Islamist terrorism amid the ongoing war with Hamas

European countries reportedly fear Hamas' war against Israel could inspire Islamist terrorists to perpetrate attacks across European continent.

Security officials in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and other European countries are consequently investing resources in heavier surveillance of radical Islamists who live within Europe’s large Muslim communities.

With the waning influence of terror organizations, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, European security agencies are primarily focusing on the threat emanating from so called lone wolfs, radicalized Islamists who are not formally affiliated with a specific terrorist group. 

Prior to Hamas' Oct. 7 invasion and attack against Israel, Europe was already facing threats from Russia, Iran, and China.

London Police Chief Mark Rowley said the combination of the multiple security issues constitutes "one of the most challenging convergence of threats I have ever seen."

German and other European security officials share these concerns about Islamist terror attacks.

Jochen Kopelke, a police officer who runs Germany's largest police union, believes it is only a matter of time before Islamic terrorists will strike. European security officials believe Islamic terrorists will attempt to hit specific Jewish targets, as well.

"It's only a question of time until these people carry out crimes," Kopelke warned. "It's not always about them having a bomb. They can drive with a car into a gathering or attack with a knife," he added. In 2016, an Islamist terrorist murdered 12 people when he rammed his vehicle into a Christmas market in Berlin. 

Kopelke has raised concerns that a radical Islamist Salafist preacher succeeded in attracting 55,000 followers on his TikTok account, which he was created after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The unnamed radical preacher has been inciting his followers against Israel, Jews and Westerners, in general. 

Jewish celebrities like Sasha Baron Cohen, Amy Schumer and Debra Messing recently criticized the TikTok social media platform for enabling the spread of massive antisemitism online. 

“What is happening at TikTok is it is creating the biggest antisemitic movement since the Nazis,” Cohen warned.

The leaders of Western nations have so far backed the Jewish state’s right to self-defense against the unprecedented Hamas aggression that claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis and created Israel’s worst hostage crisis, with some 240 Israeli and foreign citizens being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

However, the same radical Islamists in the West that celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre are increasingly vocal in their protests against Israel’s military action against Hamas in Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Hamas supporters have rallied in the streets of London, Paris, Berlin and New York for weeks. While Israel and Jews are the primary targets, the Islamists are also increasingly vocal in pressuring Western governments to change their policies and abandon their support for the Jewish state. 

Earlier in November, security officers evacuated the Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely after a threatening pro-Hamas mob gathered outside of a forum where she was scheduled to speak.