Could it happen here?

My immediate answer is "no," in that Hamas could not field a force to carry out operations in the United States on the scale they are conducting in Israel and surrounding regions Saturday. While they could easily infiltrate a large number of people across our wide-open southern border - more on that later - they cannot bring in the massive supplies of rockets and other heavy, crew-served weapons that they can easily bring to bear by transporting them on land routes from their primary supporter, Iran.

But my more considered answer is "No, not on the scale they are conducting in Israel -- but there's still a danger."

The fact that Hamas isn't occupying land neighboring the U.S., as it does Israel, doesn't mean there's not a possible threat. Since President Biden took office, not quite three years ago, a horrifying 3.8 million illegal aliens have crossed into the United States across our porous southern border, and we have very little idea who many of them are, where they are from, or where they have gone once entering the country. If 1 percent of that number were to be unfriendly actors from, say, Syria or Iran, that is 38,000 potential terrorists in the US at the moment. And the fact is, we just don't know who a lot of these people are. While it's safe to say most are from Central and South America, there have been many also entering from China - and possibly other places. 

Over the course of three weeks photographing and reporting from a remote border stretch in southeastern Texas, Reuters witnessed hundreds of Chinese migrants crossing into the United States and interviewed more than two dozen in Mandarin.

All of those interviewed said they got the idea to take the land route to the United States on social media and drew on influencers, private groups and comments to plan their trips.

About half said they had been small business owners in China: running online stores, a sheep farm, a movie production company.

The problem is that we just don't know, and until the situation on the southern border is rectified, we never will know who is entering our country, or from where.

"Unfortunately, the picture is that many countries are becoming countries of expulsion," said Giovanni Lepri, representative of the U.N. refugee agency in Mexico.

He said violence, economic distress and the growing impacts of climate change were driving mass displacement across the Americas and beyond.

The number of African migrants registered by Mexican authorities so far this year is already three times as high as during all 2022.

Look at the photos of these illegal aliens, and note how many of them are military-aged men.

Now, a qualification: Neither Hamas nor any other, similar organization can directly attack the United States as they have Israel. Our nation is simply too vast, too populous, and outside of the cities, too sparsely populated - and too well armed. But imagine the havoc 38,000 terrorists, with even minimal equipment (an automobile can do a tremendous amount of damage in a crowded city) could carry out. And there would be little or no coordination required, just each one acting alone, taking whatever action they can to cause damage and hurt people.

Our open southern border is not simply a political or economic issue. The attack on Israel and the utter savagery of the Hamas attackers should serve as a hard reminder that our open southern border presents a very real, startling national security crisis, one that should be addressed immediately - but will, instead, almost certainly continue to be a political volleyball bouncing back and forth between the branches of our increasingly hapless federal government.

The Israeli people are currently fighting for their lives. The United States, due mostly to our vastness and the nature of much of our population, is unlikely to be put in such straits; but that doesn't rule out the possibility of bad actors carrying out bad acts; indeed, possibly catastrophic acts.

We do have one advantage, however, that most of the world lacks, and that is an advantage that will make most of the United States - at least, outside of the major cities - a tough nut to crack. For some years now I've been advising friends and family alike: "Get out of the cities." Almost daily, this advice seems more and more appropriate, with every new news cycle.

See RedState's Hamas/Israel coverage at these links, and check back with us for updates as this war progresses:

• Four Critical Facts About Hamas and Its Jihad Against Israel
• Iran Praises Hamas Terror Attack on Israel as a 'Proud Operation'
• BREAKING: Hamas Fires 5,000 Rockets Into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel Declares 'State of War'
• WATCH: Horrifying Videos out of Israel, as Biden Administration Delivers Shockingly Grotesque Response
• The Horrific Attacks in Israel Are Brought to You by the Biden Administration
• MSNBC Goes to Bat for Hamas in Stunning Coverage of Palestinian Invasion