Washington — Police in the Washington region will have an increased presence at places of worship, and some schools plan to close Friday after a former Hamas leader called for supporters to come out for a day of rage, the militant group's standard call for demonstrations.

D.C. police and Montgomery County police said in statements Thursday evening that there are no credible threats to the area, but to expect increased visibility "to help ensure the safety of our community."

Capitol Police also said they will "enhance security" throughout the Capitol complex.

From New York to Los Angeles, police said they plan to increase patrols Friday after Hamas's call to action. The call for rage comes days after the militant group attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip. At least 1,300 people in Israel have been killed and about 3,300 have been wounded, authorities said. Israel has responded by bombing Gaza, where more than 2 million Palestinians live in a blockaded enclave. Palestinian officials said more than 1,500 people have been killed and about 6,600 injured.

The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown Friday, a time when many people gather at synagogues to pray together.

New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, speaking at an evening news conference Thursday, said there are no credible threats against New York, but citing a large demonstration planned for Friday in Times Square, he said New Yorkers "must remain vigilant."

"New York City will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe," Adams said.

Leaders of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, which is based in Rockville, Md., and serves almost 1,000 students, wrote in a message to families Thursday night that although officials had identified "no specific threat" to students or teachers, they were taking "the unprecedented step of closing our campuses and canceling classes."

The school is in close contact with the FBI, Montgomery County Police, the Israeli Embassy and other Jewish schools, Head of School Rabbi Mitchel Malkus wrote in the message.

"The situation is very fluid, with new information coming at us regularly," Malkus wrote. "Our goal this week has been to remain calm, supportive, flexible and understanding."

Beth El Preschool in Bethesda is adding an additional security guard during school hours. The school, which is part of Congregation Beth El, will also require that doors remain locked at all times, including during pickup and drop-off for religious and preschool sessions.

Neither the temple nor the preschool had received any credible threat as of late Thursday evening, Heather Garrett, the congregation's executive director, emphasized in an interview. But "out of an abundance of caution, we're taking heightened security measures," she said. Late Thursday night, preschool officials announced the school would be closed Friday.

Spokespeople from Montgomery Public Schools encouraged students to attend class and said their staff "will maintain heightened awareness."

Aura Skigen, a mother of two, opened an email Thursday night to learn that neither of her children would be attending their Jewish day school in Northern Virginia the next morning. Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax would be closed that day out of concern for students' safety, the email said, and because the school could not obtain sufficient security to cover campuses all day. (The Gesher school did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.)

"It's horrible that children here, a thousand miles away, have to deal with this," said Skigen, 44. "Have to worry about going to school to get an education — have to worry about what they wear on their head, what they wear as a necklace, if they have a Star of David or a mezuza."

Skigen said that, as a Jewish person, she is always conscious of some low-grade level of hatred. She has come to accept as normal that police are stationed outside when she goes to synagogue. She has learned to live with the constant worry that some delivery driver might take exception to the mezuza on her family's home. But the conflict in Israel has made everything "10 times worse," she said. The hate "is there all the time, but it's personified when something like this occurs."