Australia terror attack exposes ISIS resurgence as experts warn of global jihadist networks

Sydney terrorists were inspired by ISIS, police say Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot joins 'America's Newsroom' to discuss newly reported details surrounding the two terrorists that killed 15 victims in Bondi Beach, Australia. The terror attack in Australia has renewed urgent warnings from intelligence officials and counterterrorism experts that global jihadist networks are intensifying their reach, even as Western governments continue to frame groups like ISIS as weakened or in retreat. Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and one of the longest-running trackers of jihadist movements, said the Australia attack highlights a persistent miscalculation in Western capitals. "We’ve always been quick to declare terrorist organizations defeated and insignificant, and that couldn’t be further from the truth," Roggio told Fox News Digital. Roggio, who is also managing editor of The Long War Journal, said ISIS remains far from dismantled despite the collapse of its territorial "caliphate." FAMILIES MOURN LOVED ONES LOST IN BONDI BEACH TERROR ATTACK: ‘NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE THE PAIN’ People gather around a tribute for shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (Mark Baker/AP Photo) "This attack in Australia is absolute proof that the Islamic State hasn’t been defeated," he said. "These groups are still able to recruit and indoctrinate people. They still have safe havens." He pointed to ISIS’ enduring presence in Afghanistan . "I just read the U.N. report. There are 2,000 ISIS fighters there, according to the United Nations," Roggio said. "That’s not what a defeated group looks like." Police inspect at the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 15, 2025. (DAVID GRAY / AFP via Getty Images) Israeli officials say the threat revealed in Australia is part of a broader global pattern. Over the past year, they said, plots have been attempted or disrupted across Europe, North America, and elsewhere - signaling an escalating jihadist resurgence rather than isolated bursts of violence. Corri Zoli, a research associate at Syracuse University’s Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute, said Western governments cannot ignore the indicators. "Governments are on notice that there is a steep rise in the terrorist targeting of religious minorities, particularly those from the Jewish faith community and Israelis worldwide - a trend intelligence agencies say has accelerated in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, which killed more than 1,200 people in Israel," Zoli said. Roggio agrees the Israel-Hamas war has supercharged radicalization and emboldened extremists worldwide. "With Israel’s war against Hamas, it’s given new life for people to attack Jews worldwide," Roggio said. "It’s a further reason to radicalize." BYSTANDERS SEEN CONFRONTING AUSTRALIAN GUNMAN DURING ISIS-INSPIRED DEADLY RAMPAGE Intelligence officials told Fox News Digital that extremist actors across ideological lines are leveraging the conflict to inspire supporters, amplify propaganda and justify attacks in the West. Terrorist organizations, they said, are adapting quickly - merging digital incitement with on-the-ground recruitment networks. "Analysts at West Point’s Combating Terrorism...

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