The atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 served as an incentive for global jihadist organizations—including ISIS (Daesh) and Al-Qaeda—to promote jihad against what they call the “infidels,” namely Jews and Christians. In their view, this attack underscored the legitimacy of their ongoing propaganda against Jews and Christians. Although these organizations praised Hamas for the events of October 7, ISIS—a radical Sunni Salafi group—considers Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations to be traitors and infidels who have allied themselves with Shiite Iran, acting as its proxies and serving its Shiite interests.

Once Israel began its attacks on Gaza, ISIS sought to exploit the war by recruiting supporters worldwide to fight under the banner of Islam. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda, a rival organization vying with ISIS for primacy among global jihadist groups, also applauded Hamas’s offensive and used it to call on Muslims around the world to seize this “historic moment for global jihad” against the “infidels.” Al-Qaeda views Hamas’s attack as a “historic” turning point, revealing the weakness of the “Crusaders and Jews” and thus presenting an opportunity to strike. Despite being a radical Sunni Salafi group itself, Al-Qaeda differs from ISIS in that it maintains some ties with Shiite elements, such…