An asylum seeker in Britain was arrested after committing a terror attack, according to British media. However, details on the attack are scarce as according to the Telegraph details have been "highly restricted for legal reasons".
However, some details have been published such as that after his arrest, the suspect told police that the attack had been done because "Israel had killed children in Gaza."
British politicians asked why the details of the attack had not been released, a security source at the Telegraph said "They may be downplaying it so that they don’t have repeat attacks or copycat attacks."
Reports that British Ministers also fear a political backlash if the migration crisis in the English Channel is seen to undermine security, may be contributing to the lack of information.
Terrorism in the United Kingdom
This would not be the first time that conflicts between Israel and Hamas have inspired terrorism in the United Kingdom.
In March 2023, 59-year-old Munawar Hussain was found guilty after he had attacked women with a knife at a Marks & Spencers store in Lancashire. Fortunately, both the women attacked by Hussain survived the ordeal.
Hussain had selected the store based on the shop’s “Israel links." Additionally, at the time of the attack, Hussain carried a note that read: “O Israel, you are inflicting atrocities on Palestinians and Marks & Spencer is helping you financially.
”Hussain said in court he had launched the attack so “Allah will not be upset with me or angry with me and he will be happy with me,” the Jewish Chronicle reported.
More recently, since Hamas invaded and attacked Israeli civilians on October 7, the United Kingdom has issued a number of arrests for individuals supporting Hamas.
Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization in the UK and supporting Hamas can result in a 14 year prison sentence under the Terrorism Act.
| Anyone carrying or displaying symbols supporting a proscribed organisation can expect to be arrested.Officers policing a demo in London on Tuesday arrested a man for terrorism offences linked to support for Hamas. The investigation continues. https://t.co/rWOa3FC0Ge
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 20, 2023
Increased threat of Iran-backed terror
This comes several days after Ken McCallum, the head of the UK's domestic security service MI5, said that there was an increased terror threat from Iran-backed attacks.
McCallum clarified that for the most part Iranian activity in the UK was largely limited to targeting the regime's own internal enemies, dissidents, and Farsi media organizations.
"Terrorists can draw inspiration not just from things they see happening inside the UK but things they see happening in the Middle East or on the continent or elsewhere," he said.
" We would be silly not to be paying very close attention."
This comes just weeks after British Foreign Minister James Cleverly ruled out the UK declaring Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group despite its clear and numerous links to Hamas.