Hamas-Israel conflict increases risks of violence in US: FBI chief

Washington (Uttam Hindu News): Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray has warned that the Hamas-Israel conflict has increased the potential risks of violence in the US. Christopher Wray, referring to the Islamic State group in his testimony at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, said, “Our assessment is that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration to what we have seen since the actions initiated by ISIS several years ago.” Haven’t seen since.”

Wray said a number of foreign terrorist organizations had called for attacks against Americans and the West since the start of the latest conflict in Gaza earlier this month, Xinhua news agency reported, adding that the threat posed by domestic American violent extremists had increased.

“Our most immediate concern is that violent extremists, individuals or small groups, will be inspired by events in the Middle East and carry out attacks against Americans,” Wray said. The threat to the Jewish community in the US is “reaching historic levels”, the FBI chief told lawmakers The White House warned on Monday over reports of anti-Semitic incidents at several US universities.

During his testimony, US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also said that his agency had responded to an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab American communities across the country since the war began. He highlighted that hatred against Jewish students, communities, and institutions has “exacerbated the pre-existing increase in levels of anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world”.