As headlines and diplomatic attention are fixed on the war between Israel and Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaeda, and their numerous offshoots are quietly expanding their grip on territories from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, committing atrocities that rarely make the front page.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, Al Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and ISIS affiliates have taken control of rural regions, imposing brutal rule and targeting civilians with massacres and kidnappings. Villages are razed, aid workers are murdered, and children are abducted for indoctrination or forced recruitment. 

In Somalia, Al Shabaab continues its campaign of terror, striking both in the capital Mogadishu and in rural strongholds, while ISIS operates cells in the country’s north. In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, ISIS-linked insurgents have slaughtered entire communities, beheading men and boys and taking women as slaves.

These groups thrive in the vacuum created by weak states, under-resourced militaries, and waning international engagement. Where French and European forces once acted as a buffer, a wave of military coups and the rise of anti-Western rhetoric have forced foreign troops out, leaving civilians unprotected. Russia’s Wagner Group has stepped into the gap in some places, but its presence has done little to halt jihadist advances—in some cases, it has worsened abuses against the population.

The scope of the humanitarian disaster is staggering. Millions are displaced, regional economies are collapsing, and food insecurity is deepening. Yet, unlike the war in Gaza, these crises rarely provoke emergency sessions at the United Nations or saturation coverage on international news channels. The terrorists know this—Africa’s conflicts are the perfect breeding ground for expansion precisely because they are ignored.

The danger is not confined to Africa. These jihadist networks maintain global ambitions, link up with diaspora communities for financing, and plot attacks beyond the continent. Their training camps and safe havens could well produce the next generation of terrorists capable of striking Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. Failing to confront them now risks a far greater crisis in the near future.

There is no question that Gaza is a major story and deserves coverage. But when the focus of global media and diplomacy narrows to a single conflict, the rest of the world’s security landscape shifts—often for the worse. The same attention, pressure, and urgency that drives international debate on the Middle East must be brought to bear on Africa’s jihadist insurgencies, or we will wake up to find vast regions transformed into ungovernable havens for terror.

In the end, the extremists don’t care where the cameras are pointing. While the world looks one way, they move the other—and they’re winning.