By Raul Castillo
31 Oct 2023, 16:40 PM EDT
Hamas’ actions in the Middle East could inspire terrorist attacks elsewhere, including by extremists in the United States. This was stated this Tuesday by FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Senate hearing.
“We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we have not seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago,” Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee, in a hearing focused on threats to the United States. , in which the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and other US officials also participated.
The FBI director said multiple foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks against Americans and the West in just the past few weeks.
“Here in the United States, our most immediate concern is that violent extremists – individuals or small groups – will be inspired by events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives,” he told senators. .
He added: “That includes not only domestic violent extremists inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, but also domestic violent extremists attacking Jewish or Muslim communities.”
The conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Wray explained, has raised the threats of a terrorist attack against Americans in their own territory “to another level,” according to the EFE agency.
“We cannot and should not rule out the possibility that Hamas or another terrorist organization will take advantage of the current conflict to carry out attacks here on our own soil,” he stressed.
However, the FBI director assured that so far they have no information that indicates that the Palestinian Islamist group has the intention or the ability to carry out attacks within US territory.
Investigations in progress
The authorities, however, are alert to the situation.
Wray reported that the FBI arrested a man in Houston last week who was studying how to build bombs and posted online about his support for the murder of Jews. He also highlighted the brutal murder of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois earlier this month that his agency is investigating as a hate crime, according to NBC News.
The FBI, Wray said, has “multiple ongoing investigations” into people affiliated with Hamas.
The FBI is involved, for example, in investigating anti-Semitic threats of violence against Jewish students on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, according to NBC News.
“Simply put, we will continue to do everything in our power to protect the American people and support our partners in Israel,” the FBI director said. “Protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism is, and remains, our number one priority.”
The official cited government data, according to which Jews in the United States suffer “something like 60% of all religiously motivated hate crimes and incidents” despite representing only about 2.4%. % of the American public.
Keep reading:
- Jewish community at Manhattan college threatened with online messages, police and FBI investigate
- FBI investigates threats made by Alabama man against officials involved in the case against Trump in Georgia
- Joseph Czuba, the man accused of killing a Muslim boy, pleaded not guilty in court