(Washington) The war between Israel and Hamas exacerbates the risk of attacks on American soil, particularly against Jewish and Muslim communities, the director of the American Federal Police (FBI) warned on Tuesday.
“The ongoing war in the Middle East has taken the threat of attacks against Americans in the United States to a whole new level,” Christopher Wray told the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
“We believe that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as inspiration in a way that we have not seen since [l’organisation État islamique] created his so-called caliphate several years ago,” the FBI director added.
“We are in dangerous times. […] This is not the time to panic, but the time to be vigilant,” he stressed.
Wray said U.S. law enforcement “could not rule out the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization would take advantage of the current conflict to carry out attacks here on our own soil.” »
“Our most immediate concern is the risk that violent extremists, individuals or small groups, will take inspiration from what is happening in the Middle East and carry out attacks against Americans,” he said. he continued, mentioning the Jewish or Muslim communities as potential targets.
The director thus mentioned the arrest last week of a man who had threatened online to “kill Jews” and sought to learn how to make a bomb, as well as the stabbing murder of a six-year-old boy, Muslim, in Illinois.
The risk of attacks targeting the Jewish community has “reached somewhat of a historic high,” he noted, specifying that while Jews represent only 2.4% of Americans, they are targeted by 60% of crimes. motivated by reasons of religious affiliation.
The Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have called for attacks on US interests, but the FBI has not identified a “credible threat of imminent attack from a foreign terrorist organization,” he said. noted.