Israel-Hamas war: FBI director cautions against al-Qaeda threat in the US

US intelligence agency FBI's Director Christopher Wray warned on Tuesday (Oct 31) that amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the US is "in a dangerous period" and the threat of targeted attacks, including hate crimes not seen in about a decade, remains high.

The threat perception of international terrorism in the United States was deemed remarkably low in recent years, especially after the territorial gains of the so-called Islamic State terror group were liberated in Iraq and Syria.

But recent reports in the US media citingsenior American officials say Hamas' deadly Oct7 attack on Israel is likely to haveimplications for individuals in and beyond the United States.

"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," Christopher Wray said in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

FBI director falls short of comparing Hamas with ISIS

The Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have cited the brutalities committed by the men owing allegiance to Hamas to compare the group with ISIS.

"Hamas is ISIS" is a rallying cry of Israeli leaders amid the ongoing state of war in West Asia.

Also watch | UN report blows lid off Al-Qaeda's plot to target India

Hamas' attack, which killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, "will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven't seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate years ago," Wray said.

Al-Qaeda rears its head against US after Hamas attacks

Wray said thatwhile the FBI has no evidence of an imminent threat from a foreign terrorist group inside the United States, al-Qaeda has issued its most specific call for violence against the US after manyyears.

Besides, the Islamic State has urged its purported followers, often deemed as 'sleeper cells' by a number of intelligence agencies,to target Jewish people in the United States and Europe.

Christine Abizaid, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center said that the Israel-Hamas war has featured in al-Qaeda's propaganda since Oct7.

"We have seen it from al-Qaeda affiliates, almost every single one of them," she was quoted as saying by Newsweek.

"We have also seen it from ISIS, which isn't ideologically aligned with a group like Hamas but is still leveraging this current conflict to try to sow the kind of violence, bring adherence to its cause in a kind of exploitative way."

Meanwhile, the FBI director said that the most significant concern for the FBI is extremist acts of violence, which could potentially be committed by lone individuals inspired by the terrorist groups.

"We have seen that already with the individual we arrested last week in Houston, who'd been studying how to build bombs and posted online about his support for killing Jews," Wray said. "And with the tragic killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois in what we're investigating as a federal hate crime."

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.