Middle East terror not translating to Australia attacks

A focus on Islamic terrorism in the Middle East following Hamas' assault against Israel hasn't translated into similar attacks against the West.

There have been nine terror attacks, disruptions or incidents in 2024 but no plots have been attributed to the war in Gaza, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess said.

The global fallout from Hamas' October 7 attack against Israel defied initial expectations of flow on terror attacks, counter-terrorism expert Levi West said.

This was in part because Hamas - a listed terrorist organisation - doesn't have the same global ambitions as Islamic State or other jihad groups, Dr West said.

Hamas' objective is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state whereas ISIS wanted to export its terrorism and used propaganda to target marginalised communities in the West, he said.

"Islamic State ran a full-court press of propaganda designed to get Westerners to conduct terrorist attacks," Dr West told AAP.

"Hamas and other Palestinian-orientated terrorist organisations aren't global in their strategic objectives, they're much more localised to liberating what they perceive to be Palestine."

But Mr Burgess said Hamas' attack, Israel's retaliation and the ensuing war in Gaza created a climate "more permissive of violence, making acts of terrorism more likely".

Religiously motivated violent extremism made up the majority of the intelligence agency's caseload but there had been no link between the conflict in the Gaza Strip and terror incidents in Australia.

"To be clear, I'm talking about individuals who follow a perverse interpretation of Islam, not people of Islamic faith," he said.

People flying the flag of Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah at pro-Palestinian rallies in Australia might indicate a violent ideology, Mr Burgess said.

"It might just be the actions of a misdirected individual who doesn't really know what they're doing," he said.

A person simply "liking" a provocative social media post or supporting a Palestinian homeland wouldn't trigger an automatic adverse security assessment for people on or applying for visas.

But those who support or promote violence or the destruction of Israel could be a direct or indirect threat to security, Mr Burgess said.

The director general expressed concern about the re-emergence of capabilities from terrorist groups ISIL and al-Qaeda.

Dr West said the groups had been expanding across the Sahel and in northern Africa and were never eradicated in Syria and Iraq, but reduced to a level considered manageable.

While there were vastly more global jihadist groups and their area of operations was larger than any right wing extremist group could hope for, nationalist ideology still posed a terror threat, he said.

Right wing extremists in America recognised the significance of former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and the US election would have implications for the nationalist movement the world over, he said.

One-third of the nine cases involved religiously motivated violent extremism, while the majority were motivated by racist or nationalist ideologies or a mix of ideologies, Mr Burgess said.

All involved young people, alone or in small groups and with simple weapons.

People radicalised quickly and with little warning, which made it harder for the intelligence organisation to track, Mr Burgess said.