New Orleans attack came as officials warned of an escalating threat of international terrorism

WASHINGTON — After Hamas launched the deadly assault on Israel that triggered retaliatory airstrikes on Gaza, FBI Director Christopher Wray said he feared the Middle East violence could embolden individuals or groups to carry out attacks inside the United States. “Now it includes Oct. 7, it includes IS — and why IS is so important right now is because it is resurging as a result of what IS could perceive as a victory in Syria.” The New Orleans attack that killed 14 is thought to be the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil since a 2016 massacre of 49 people inside a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who professed allegiance to the group’s then-leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The threat never abated, as evidenced by the FBI’s October arrest of an Afghan man in Oklahoma who authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State group to plot an Election Day attack. The swirl of concerns led Wray to tell The Associated Press in August that he was “hard-pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once.” That such a deadly assault in New Orleans was carried out by a lone actor without any direction from overseas underscores the volatile and unpredictable nature of the terrorism threat as well as the challenges in stopping violence from such individuals. Though officials say he wasn’t aided by conspirators, Jabbar’s method — ramming a truck into bystanders — is a favored option for Islamic State followers, and a pro-IS media unit on Dec. 30 encouraged attacks at New Year’s Eve celebrations in the U.S. and other countries, according to an intelligence bulletin from the FBI and DHS seen by The Associated Press.