American officials announced they are preparing for potential a “Day of Jihad” on Friday, Oct. 13, after a former leader of Hamas called on Muslims around the world to take to the streets.
According to Newsweek, the leader of Hamas’ diaspora office in Qatar, Khaled Mashaal, stated, “[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday.”
Newsweek also reported Mashaal posted a video to YouTube, which has since been removed, and declared, “Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan… This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility.”
Jihad is defined as “a struggle or fight against the enemies of Islam” and “the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin.”
John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House, told reporters during a press conference Thursday that the Biden administration is “focused on making sure that our intelligence-sharing with the Israelis is as sharp and as good as possible for the operations that they are in.”
“We are constantly in touch with local law enforcement…state and federal officials across the country, to make sure that we are as vigilant as we can be to be able to identify and disrupt any threats to the American people,” he noted when asked about safety from threats.
This came before an Israeli embassy worker was attacked in Beijing. The Associated Press reported that early Friday morning, a 50-year-old Israeli man was stabbed at the supermarket.
Beijing police have arrested a foreign suspect and said the victim is a relative of an Israeli diplomat.
According to an Israeli government statement, “The employee was transferred to hospital and he is in a stable condition.”
The Israeli government also criticized China’s reaction to the Israel-Palestine war.
The Israeli government wrote in the statement, “The Chinese announcements do not contain any element of Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens, a fundamental right of any sovereign country that was attacked in an unprecedented manner and with cruelty that has no place in human society.”
Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House, said, “The Chinese government has always propagated a narrative that places the blame squarely on Israel, a key U.S. ally, because this aligns with a key objective of (the ruling Communist Party’s) propaganda: to undermine the U.S. in the international community.”