The Middle East conflict will have “immediate repercussions” for European Union security with an increased threat of terrorism, serious and organised crime as well as violent extremism and cyberattacks, European police body Europol has told Spanish news agency EFE, Al Jazeera reports.

Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oorth said he expected to see more cyberattacks against European infrastructure and an increase in online fraud using increasingly sophisticated AI and exploiting the flurry of information swirling about the conflict online, EFE reports.

Groups linked to Iran could seek to carry out “destabilising activities” within the EU, Gen Oorth adds, referring to groups linked to the network of anti-US and Israeli militias in countries including Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. These could include terrorist attacks, intimidation campaigns, terrorist financing and cybercrime.

“The level of terrorist threat and violent extremism in EU territory is considered high,” he has told the news agency. The terror threat could be heightened by individuals acting alone or small cells acting on their own initiative.”

“The rapid spread of polarising content on the internet can accelerate short-term radicalisation processes among diaspora communities within the EU and other individuals,” he further warns.