The FBI is now probing individuals associated with Hamas and whether rogue actors could be planning violence within the US, Director Christopher Wray told Congress on Tuesday.
He warned that Hamas’ attacks on Israel would inspire attacks throughout the world.
‘We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven’t seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago,’ Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
He said the war in Gaza ‘has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole ‘nother level.’
The FBI is now probing individuals associated with Hamas and whether rogue actors could be planning violence within the US, Director Christopher Wray told Congress on Tuesday
Still Wray said the FBI had ‘no information to indicate that Hamas has the intent or capability to conduct operations inside the US,’ but added ‘we cannot and do not discount that.’
He noted that in the past few weeks foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks on Americans and the West.
‘Al-Qaeda issued its most specific call to attack the US in the last five years,’ Wray said. ‘Hezbollah has threatened to attack US interests in the Middle East.’
He added that ISIS is ‘seeking to capitalize on this moment, galvanize supporters’ and Islamist extremists alone or in ‘small groups’ could use the war as ‘inspiration’ to plan attacks within the U.S.
Wray also warned of increasing Jewish hate crimes throughout the US and world.
‘The Jewish community is uniquely, uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum,’ he said.
‘When you look at a group that makes up 2.4 percent roughly of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60 percent of all religious-based hate crimes. And so they need our help.’
Meanwhile Israel’s Defense Force is pushing deeper into Gaza in its bloody campaign to eradicate Hamas and end its 16-year rule over the Palestinian territory after an October 7 attack that killed some 1,400 Israelis.
Smoke rises from inside Northern Gaza on October 31, 2023 as seen from Sderot, Israel. As Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct 7 attacks entered its fourth week
IDF ground forces and tanks operating in Gaza in undated footage. The footage was released by IDF on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a cease fire as airstrikes land near hospitals where thousands of Palestinians shelter beside the wounded. Tanks and other armored vehicles are pushing into the territory and according to the Palestinian Health Ministry some 8,000 Gaza residents have been killed.
Hamas is believed to be holding around 240 captives. The militant group has released four hostages and has said it would let the others go in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Congress is now under pressure to pass Israel aid. The White House has requested a $100 billion package that includes aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
But the House has proposed a $14 billion bill that offers aid to only Israel. That funding would be offset by taking it from additional IRS funding that was included in the Democrat-passed Inflation Reduction Act.
The House bills is unlikely to find an appetite in the Senate, but Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted Israel funding must be offset and stand alone.