The terror threat against the U.S. reached “a whole other level” after Hamas’ sneak attack on Israel, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told Congress on Tuesday, saying the big players in terrorism have all renewed calls to attack America and its interests.

He said al Qaeda has issued its most specific call for attacks on the U.S. in years, Islamic State leaders ordered followers to attack Jewish communities and Hezbollah is eyeing U.S. targets in the Middle East. Iran, meanwhile, has pushed proxy attacks on U.S. military basis.

“The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023, but the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of attack on Americans to a whole other level,” Mr. Wray said.

He said the greatest threat to the U.S. still comes from lone actors or small cells of radicalized people using weapons to attack “soft targets.”

But Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist raid on Israel has made the possibility of a foreign-based attack more likely.

Christine Abizaid, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the situation quickly reversed from just before the Hamas attack, when the U.S. judged the threat from Middle East-based terrorism networks to be diminished.

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She said groups like al Qaeda still have less operational capacity than they did in the past, but they are seeking to use the Hamas attack as a chance to rebuild and recruit.

Mr. Wray said the biggest danger is that lone actors in the U.S. will be inspired by Hamas or prodded by ISIS or al Qaeda calls to action.

“To have this many foreign terrorism organizations this explicitly calling for attacks … significantly takes the threat level, the threat environment, the risk to a whole other level here,” the director said.

And while some U.S. officials have drawn parallels between the threats aimed at the Jewish community and that faced by Muslims and Arab Americans, Mr. Wray said that by the numbers there’s no equivalency.

He said the Jewish community is 2.4% of the population but accounts for 60% of all religious-based hate crimes. He said they uniquely are targeted “by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum.”

“They need our help,” he said.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.