Sir Alex Younger was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if UK spies were looking at a potential increase in terrorism in response to Israel's offensive, which has claimed more than 18,000 Palestinian lives.
The ex-chief of Britain's foreign intelligence agency said: "Speaking domestically, my understanding is that whilst we don't see a serious uptick now, what really alarms my former colleagues is a scale of radicalisation as a result of what is happening in the Middle East that is pretty well unparalleled.
"That augurs trouble ahead." A week after the October 7 killing spree by Hamas across southern Israel, MI5 director general Ken McCallum said the domestic intelligence agency was paying "very close attention" to events in the Middle East.
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