The upcoming one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel could be a “a motivating factor for violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators to engage in violence” in the United States, federal officials said Friday.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security said Jewish, Muslim or Arab persons could be targeted by both foreign terrorist groups and individual actors as synagogues and mosques “present attractive targets for violent attacks or for hoax threats by a variety of threat actors.”
“It is essential to be watchful for threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities and institutions and to immediately contact law enforcement to report any suspicious activity,” the FBI said in a separate statement.
Hamas sent more than 2,000 armed fighters into southern Israel on October 7 last year, where they murdered more than 1,000 civilians and kidnapped more than 200 others.
DHS released its annual threat assessment earlier this week, with an agency official telling reporters that the October 7 anniversary “may add even more fuel to an already challenging and heightened threat environment.”
“All of these factors contribute to a heightened threat environment, because at times, they are motivating factors that drive particular violent extremist groups to accelerate or plan to take action on a timeline that may not have been anticipated,” the official added.
Incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault skyrocketed in the wake of October 7, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League. More than 5,000 incidents occurred between October 7 and the end of 2023, which was more than the incident total for the whole year prior.
There was also a 434 percent increase in violent antisemitic posts on the day of the October 7 attack, according to ADL researchers.
The FBI and DHS warned that online rhetoric could inspire lone-wolf bad actors to engage in violence on the upcoming anniversary.