U.S. officials say that there is no immediate threat to national security, but they are watching

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters rallied in Times Square on Sunday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Top American counterterrorism officials on Thursday, October 12, said there was no credible or specific intelligence pointing to a current threat to the United States related to the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel or the ensuing war.

However, intelligence officials were still assessing the potential impact inside the United States of a Hamas call for protests in the next few days.

“We’re also aware of information on the internet about a Hamas call for action or demonstrations,” Christopher A. Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said on Thursday. “And we’re working to confirm whether there’s any validity to that information.” Mr. Wray was speaking during a seminar hosted by the Secure Community Network, an organization that provides consultation and support on safety matters to Jewish communities across North America. “We cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas, or other foreign terrorist organizations, could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks here on our own soil,” he said.

Monitoring for threats involves sifting through rhetoric online and looking for information that indicates a specific plan, like details about a time and place, and assessing whether any purported plotters have the capability to carry out an attack, a Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said during a call with reporters on Thursday evening.

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Saturday, U.S. counterterrorism officials have been reaching out to thousands of state and local law enforcement officers and religious leaders to discuss the potential impact of the attacks inside the United States. This includes sharing intelligence and offering guidance and assistance in shoring up security at mosques and synagogues and other public gathering places where people could be at risk.

On Thursday, officials from the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center held a call with about 4,000 law enforcement officers from around the country, a homeland security official said. The official, who was authorized to speak only on condition of anonymity to share sensitive details, said participation was extraordinarily high, an indication of the broad sense of urgency on security issues around the country.

“The reality in which we are gathered today is this: Jewish people in our country and across the world are again traumatized, again afraid for their own safety and for the safety of their loved ones,” Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary, said on Thursday during a speech to a group of sports leaders hosted by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

Hate crimes against Jewish people and institutions in the United States were already on the rise, Mr. Wray said, and had continued to do so since the Hamas attacks. Over the weekend, Mr. Wray said, the F.B.I. relayed a tip about threats to some faith-based community centers, including a Jewish Senior Services Center in Connecticut.

“We immediately kicked into action and worked with partners in that area to mitigate that threat to those communities and ensure our faith-based partners had what they needed,” Mr. Wray said. The United Nations humanitarian agency just announced a flash appeal of $249 million to help 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Nearly 60 percent of households in Gaza were considered food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity prior to the war between Israel and Hamas, and $132.7 million of the funds would address food insecurity, the U.N. said.

The British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, spoke with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt on Thursday to “underscore the importance of supporting civilians to leave Gaza,” according to a statement from the British government. Egypt, which controls Gaza’s southern border crossing at Rafah, has so far refused to allow Palestinians seeking to flee Israel’s bombardments to enter its territory. The statement also said that Britain Maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft would begin flying in the region starting Friday to monitor for illicit weapons transfers and other security threats, and would move a navy task group to the eastern Mediterranean next week as “a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts.”

About 200 members of the House gathered on the steps of the Capitol Thursday evening to hold a candlelight vigil for the Israeli civilians killed or captured when Hamas launched a surprise attack over the weekend.

Homeland Security Department officials say there is no specific or credible threat to the United States at this time stemming from the Hamas attacks. Officials spoke to reporters Thursday evening on the condition of anonymity. The department has been in regular contact with law enforcement officials and religious leaders since Saturday. Earlier on Thursday, department officials held a call with about 4,000 local law enforcement officials around the country. One of the officials who spoke to reporters said this was an extraordinarily high number of participants, an indication of how much interest there is around the country.

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are planning to introduce a resolution on Monday pledging full-throated solidarity with Israel, calling on the international community to impose sanctions to limit the flow of money and weapons to Hamas, and declaring the United States ready and willing to help resupply Israel as needed. At least 30 Democrats and 27 Republicans have signed onto the legislation thus far, with more expected to lend their support in the days ahead. The resolution is similar to bipartisan legislation unveiled in the House this week by the top Republican and Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said late Thursday that 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children, have been killed since Israel began its response to the attacks by Hamas. An additional 6,612 people, including 1,644 children, have been injured, according to the ministry.

The NYPD posted a notice on X (formerly Twitter) to the effect that there was no credible threat to New York City.

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