Source: Win McNamee / Getty
FBI Director Christopher Wray warned on Tuesday that the threat of a terror attack against Americans has been raised to a “whole other level” due to ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
“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 several years ago. In just the past few weeks, multiple foreign terrorist organizations have called for an attack against Americans and the West,” Wray told lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
“The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole other level,” Wray said.
Wray also warned of attacks against Jewish or Muslim targets in the U.S., citing the arrest of a Houston man who had been studying how to build bombs and had posted support of killing Jews; and the killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois, which Wray said is being investigated as a federal hate crime.
Wray said it “should be jarring” that the Jewish community accounts for 2.4% of the U.S. population and is the target of 60% of religious based hate crimes.
“The reality is that the Jewish community is uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum,” Wray said. “They need our help.”
