Cruz: Risk of terrorist attack highest since 9/11

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday said he believes the risk of a terrorist attack in the United States is the highest since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks due to the ensuing war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. 

“I believe we're at greater risk today for a major terrorist attack in the United States than we have been at any time since September 11,” Cruz said Monday on Fox News. “And you combine war in the Middle East with open — an open border on our southern border.”

He referred to the border as an "invitation" for potential homeland security threats.

“That is an invitation from the Biden White House, if you're a terrorist and you want to murder Americans come to Mexico and they'll let you in. That is dangerous as hell,” Cruz added.

Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7, prompting Israel to declare war on the group that the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization. Since then, thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died on either side of the conflict.

Cruz also introduced the Hamas Sanctions Act, which would target the organization by imposing sanctions on actors that provide funding and territory to the group.

"The administration also refuses to enforce sanctions against Hamas for terrorism, for the use of human shields, or against those who violate terrorism sanctions and provide Hamas with financial or material support," Cruz said in a statement.

"The Hamas Sanctions Act would end these catastrophic policies, prohibit the administration from allowing further funds from flowing to Hamas and Iran, and end the ability of provide Hamas leaders with safe haven in violation of sanctions," he said.

Days after the initial attack, officials said there was no indication that there was a threat to the U.S. due to the attacks at the time. However, nearly 80 percent of respondents in a recent poll said that they are worried about the conflict leading to a terrorist attack in the U.S.

Reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the United States have also risen since the outbreak of the war. FBI Director Christopher Wray said the U.S. is seeing “historic” levels of antisemitism since the start of the fighting at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on Tuesday.

In a prepared statement for the committee, Wray said that the “greatest terrorism threat” to the U.S. is lone actors or small groups of people who are radicalized to violence online and who use “easily accessible” weapons to attack “soft targets.”

The statement also said that the FBI has “no information” that indicated Hamas had the “intent or capability” to work within the U.S., but that they are concerned that the organization’s supporters can engage in violence on behalf of the group.

“Foreign terrorist organizations have exploited previous conflicts between Israel and HAMAS via media outlets and online communications to call on their supporters located in the United States to conduct attacks,” the statement reads. “Some violent extremists have used times of heightened tensions to incite violence against religious minorities, targeting both Jewish and Muslim Americans.”