FBI says Hamas attack will inspire most ‘significant’ terror threat to US since Islamic State

Director's remarks come in homeland security hearing amid increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab Americans

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The attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October will inspire the most significant terror threat to the US since the rise of Islamic State (IS) nearly a decade ago, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, said at a congressional hearing in Washington on Tuesday.

Wray said that since the start of the Israel-Palestine conflict earlier this month, multiple foreign terrorist organizations have called for attacks against Americans and the west, significantly raising the threat posed by homegrown US violent extremists.

Reuters contributed reporting