Man harasses Muslims inside New York mosque as Islamophobic crimes spike in US

• Man demands release of Israelis taken as hostages by Hamas.
• Police refuse to take action against man or arrest him.
• New York governor takes notice of harassment incident. 
  

A man entered inside a mosque in New York and harassed the people there, demanding the release of Israeli civilians who were taken as hostages by Hamas after its attack on October 7 last year, Geo News reported Friday. 

According to the reports, the police did not take any action against the unidentified man, saying that the incident was not prompted by religious hatred. 

The decision to not arrest the man angered the Muslim community, which said that the police would have taken action had the incident happened in any other place of worship.

However, New York Governor Kathy Hochul took notice of the harassment of Muslims, saying that the accused should be brought to justice no matter who has been harassed. 

The incident comes as part of the several Islamophobic episodes in the US which were exacerbated after Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group, breached Israel's security nexus in a surprise attack. 

In the wake of the attack, the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government has continued to target innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip with heavy bombardment, leaving the Strip destroyed and its population displaced.

The Israeli attacks have left nearly 30,000 Palestinians dead including thousands of children.