Isil cannot be defeated by war so we must shut down its hate speech on internet

Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, the Isil murderers of an 85-year-old priest in Normandy Picture: Reuters

Martina Devlin

It can happen anywhere, it can happen to anyone - that was the subtext to an odious attack in Normandy this week, in which an elderly priest was butchered at the altar as he celebrated Mass. The teenage fanatics who filmed themselves slaughtering him in the name of Allah have ratcheted up the chill factor in a war that is difficult to comprehend, let alone combat.

Father Jacques Hamel's murder is the latest in a succession of terror strikes, all posing security and political dilemmas for other Western states which are also vulnerable to attack by disaffected young men with a death wish.