'Day of Jihad' Sparks Warnings for Americans to Stay Inside

Americans are "armed" and will not be intimidated, commenters including Rep. Matt Gaetz have said, after a former Hamas chief called for a "Day of Jihad" by Muslim communities around the world on Friday, October 13.

Khaled Mashaal, who now heads the militant group's diaspora office in Qatar, told Reuters on Wednesday that Muslims should "head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday" and hold mass protests in support of Palestinians as the conflict with Israel intensifies.

In a video posted on YouTube, but since removed, he also called for Muslims "to show anger" on Friday and "send a message of rage to Zionists and to America," according to a transcript posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Gaetz, a Florida Republican, reshared a post about Mashaal's comments on X, adding: "FAFO [F*** around and find out]. Floridians are armed. We won't be intimidated."

Joey Mannarino, a conservative podcast host, took a more cautious tone, posting: "Do not leave your homes that day unless there is an emergency. Avoid public transit. Avoid airplanes. Avoid public events."

Jason Howerton, an X user with more than 108,000 followers, wrote: "Do not be paranoid. But absolutely be strapped."

Another social media user, who runs a firearms business in Tennessee, asked followers on X what weapons they would be carrying on Friday.

Salam Al-Marayati, president of U.S. nonprofit the Muslim Public Affairs Council, rejected Mashaal's calls on Thursday, telling Newsweek: "Hamas is a terrorist organization and this is what you expect from them.

"We denounce their terrorist activities and definitely don't even consider their calls for more fighting to be heeded by any Muslim because the No 1 thing you must abide by in Islam is if you are in any fight, you should not target civilians."

Al-Marayati said those tactics were not only a violation of Islamic ethics, but were leading to rising death tolls on both sides.

"There's no military solution so the only one is a political one," he said. "People are not in the mood of hearing talks of diplomacy. When people are tired of killing each other and all resources are exhausted, we need to come up with a political solution. The sooner we can get to that, the better it is for all sides."

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of Thursday, at least 1,300 people had been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli military. At least 1,350 people had been killed in Gaza, according to authorities there, the AP said. Militants are also holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is "at war" and has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza. Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists as it prepares for a likely ground offensive into the territory, which has an estimated population of around 2.3 million.

Al-Marayati said it is expected that people will cling to their narratives and only be concerned with the suffering on their side, adding that he doesn't believe that the Palestinian narrative is understood well by Americans.

"Terrorism is not the answer," he said. "Aside from being immoral, it only backfires to hurt the people more. We want to see our government in the U.S. be more open to the Palestinian side and find a solution."

Part of this dialogue is a promotion of more inter-faith dialogue and cooperation from different religious perspectives, he said.

"It's a long road ahead. With so much smoke and debris coming from the confrontation and war and more civilian suffering, it's hard to see [such conversations taking place]. But to me it's the only path we need to take moving forward."

Newsweek has reached out to other Muslim-led organizations in the U.S. for comment.