- On August 29, 2024, an editorial in the ISIS al-Nabā’ weekly called on Muslims in Europe to carry out “lone wolf” attacks on Jews and Christians in retaliation for the war in the Gaza Strip and European governmental support for Israel.
- The editorial was published in the wake of two terrorist attacks, one in Germany and the other Russia, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, stating they were carried out “to avenge the Muslims in Palestine.”
Editorial Encourages Terrorist Attacks in Europe
- On August 29, 2024, Issue #458 of ISIS’ weekly al-Nabā’ magazine published an editorial entitled “Jihad in Europe” calling for lone wolf attacks on Jews and Christians in Europe. It came after two attacks in Germany and Russia on August 23, 2024, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, relating them to the war in the Gaza Strip (see Appendices A and B for information about the attacks). The article said the following (al-Nabā’, August 29, 2024):
- Protests and demonstrations in Europe against Western governments which support Israel are ineffective. The most effective mode of action is to carry out jihad “lone wolf” attacks on Jews and Christians (“Crusaders”), especially in support of Muslims who are unable to wage jihad” in “Palestine.”
- The attacks in Germany and Russia were in revenge for harm done to Muslims in “Palestine,” Iraq, Syria, Bosnia and other places, and prove that Muslims are united and determined to avenge their religious brothers without national or other differences.
- Muslims are called on to attack Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues and pubs [sic], to kill and burn the Jews. Jews and Christians in Europe can be attacked with simple weapons such knives and hammers, since local security personnel find it difficult to identity and investigate that type of attack.
- The article criticized Arab regimes which protect their Jews and Christians.
The article “Jihad in Europe” (al-Nabā’, August 29, 2024)
Appendix A: Stabbing in Germany
- Late in the evening on August 23, 2024, a terrorist carried out a stabbing in Solingen, a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in northwestern Germany. The attack was carried out during a festival marking the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city. The attacker stabbed random festival participants and then fled. Three people were murdered and eight injured, four of them seriously (Reuters, August 24, 2024).
- A few hours later the terrorist turned himself in to the police. He was identified as Issa al-Hassan, 26 years old, a Syrian who had arrived in Germany in December 2022 and requesting asylum. He was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria, but German immigration authorities were unable to locate him at the refugee center where he was staying (Reuters, DW and AFP, August 26, 2024).
- ISIS’s A’maq news agency issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. It stated that the stabber was an ISIS operative and had carried out the attack “as revenge for the Muslims in Palestine and everywhere” (A’maq, Telegram, August 24, 2024).
A’maq claim of responsibility (Telegram, August 24, 2024)
- According to the editorial about the attack in al-Nabā’ Issue #458, it was carried out against “the Christians of crusading Europe as revenge for the Muslims in Palestine.” It stated that the A’maq agency had issued a video in which the terrorist said, “the action is revenge for the Muslims, especially after the recent massacres in Palestine, which were carried out with the help of Crusaders.” It accused the European countries of having committed crimes against Muslims in Bosnia, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, adding, “Do you think you will be spared [revenge]? By Allah, I will chop off your limbs with the help of Allah, may he be praised and exalted. I embarked on this action to please Allah, may he be praised and exalted, to take revenge for our people in Palestine, against whom massacres are being committed by the Jews. I will hack off their limbs as revenge for our people in Palestine and our people in Syria, Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan.” According to the editorial, Germany is one of the most supportive countries of Israel and plays a key role in the international coalition against ISIS (al- Nabā’, August 29, 2024).
The editorial about the terrorist attack in Germany (al-Nabā’, August 29, 2024)
Appendix B: ISIS Attack in a Russian Prison
- On August 23, 2024, four prisoners affiliated with ISIS attacked prison staff in Volgograd, in southwestern Russia, with knives, held them hostage and killed four of them. The terrorists, from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, were shot dead by Russian security force snipers. According to reports, one of the attackers was wearing an explosive belt but did not have time to activate it (Reuters, Tass and NBC, August 23, 2024).
- ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and said the hostages were stabbed to death by knives smuggled into the prison compound, adding that one of the dead was a senior officer. The al-Nabā’ article stated that the four had received religious instruction inside the prison which “strengthened their faith.” It also stated that al-Nabā’ had received a video from the planner of the attack, in which he called on the Muslims to “take revenge on the Jews for the massacres they commit in Palestine,” adding that “we see how the Jews, the enemies of Allah, kill the Muslim women and their children” and “the crimes of the Russian Crusader against the Muslims in Syria, and especially against the pious women [of ISIS operatives] in the prisons” (al-Nabā’, August 29, 2024).
Two of the terrorists in the prison in Volgograd, with an improvised ISIS flag hanging on the wall behind them (al-Nabā’, August 29, 2024)
