Amid Israel-Hamas conflict, foreign policy experts warn of likely terror groups in U.S.

As Israel reels from a recent terrorist incursion by the Gaza-based Hamas, foreign policy experts warn that Palestinian-aligned Islamic terror groups are likely present within the United States and could be preparing terrorist attacks on Americans.

Over the weekend, Hamas staged a major operation in Israeli territory, seizing hostages and inflicting considerable civilian casualties. Reports have since emerged of brutal treatment of civilians by the terrorists and the Israel Defense Forces have begun retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip. Fighting has spilled into Lebanon, with Jerusalem striking Hezbollah forces stationed in that country. 

Amid the carnage, former Trump Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates has warned that the litany of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have materialized within the United States suggests that terror groups already have operatives within the country.

"[W]e know Hezbollah has been active in Latin America; they've carried out attacks against Jewish targets in Argentina, for example," she said on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. "So they're here. And the notion that they haven't tried to cross the border in the last two and a half years, is pretty disingenuous."

"So what's really interesting to me... is we're watching all of these nasty little protests in solidarity with the Palestinians that have been happening, one happened in my home city of Philadelphia, one was in New York, there have been others," she continued. "This is literally Palestinian supporters, showing us as the United States that they are here."

"And you can only imagine what else has crept across the border if these are the folks who are coming out publicly and protesting," she went on. "And so it's kind of a veiled threat, if you think about it, that 'We're here and if you guys step up, support too much for Israel, we're going to attack' and you notice the President did raise the possibility of the domestic terror attack today in his remarks."

"But he said it was fine. 'We were going to be talking to local law enforcement,'" she continued. "He said nothing about the border. He said nothing about trying to track the known folks that are that are here from suspect countries. And even nothing about shutting it down."

Former chief of staff to Trump's National Security Council Fred Fleitz expressed a similar sentiment on Tuesday during an appearance on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast.

"I'm very worried that our southern border hasn't been defended, because we have to assume that Hamas has sent fighters into the U.S.," he said, before attributing the scale of Hamas's success in Israel's south to an intelligence failure. "But concerning the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War attack, that was an intelligence failure too. The Israelis were caught off guard, and it led to a quite a housecleaning in the Israeli government."

Pressed by host John Solomon as to the prospect of terror cells in the United States, Fleitz stated that "the people I talked to believe that that a number of criminal elements, members of terrorist organizations, Chinese intelligence officers, probably quite a few of them have penetrated the southern border during the Biden administration."

"I think it's a severe security threat... there are so many gotaways. And I think if ... members of a foreign intelligence service or a terrorist organization decided to infiltrate the border, they would know how not to be caught," he added.

More than 7 million people have illegally entered the United States since President Joe Biden took office.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.