The Israel-Gaza war has stoked tensions in the United States.

Extremists and bad faith actors have been hijacking the national debate in the United States around the Israel-Gaza war to call for violence, division and recruitment of mainstream audiences, law enforcement experts say.

They've been popping up at protests, using popularized language and spreading misinformation about the conflict online, according to researchers.

Members of the Montanans in Solidarity with Palestine say they were faced with this growing problem as they marched through the streets of Missoula on Oct. 21. Members say they came across a group of roughly 20 masked protesters chanting and holding signage containing xenophobic and racist hate speech.

The group, who members believed to be part of a local white supremacist hate group, "shouted as much as they could and we shouted them down," Brendan Work, one of the organizers of the pro-Palestinian march, told ABC News.

"Our message was that hatred of any kind was not acceptable in our movement and would never be," Work said. He added that those being targeted by the group -- including Jews and refugees -- have been "on the forefront of the struggle for Palestinian liberation."

The group reportedly chanted "hip hip Hamas! Hip hip Hezbollah!" in celebration of the Middle Eastern terrorist groups that have been in combat with Israeli forces, according to local reports, and falsely thanked pro-Palestinian marchers for their support.

The confrontation with the group stoked fear in pro-Palestinian protesters, as well as members of a local synagogue that the group had visited and protested earlier that day, the synagogue's president told ABC News.

It was the first time Har Shalom, the synagogue, was visited by such a group, according to synagogue president Jamie Klein.

In the wake of the protests and ongoing tensions, Klein said the Missoula community has come together to show support for the synagogue.

"That was scary," Klein told ABC News. "We're really trying to stay unified and be strong together and come together in the face of antisemitism."

The Montana incident is just one example of what experts are warning about regarding extremist groups and bad faith actors attempting to take advantage of the tensions.

As tensions spike in the U.S. amid the conflict in the Middle East, experts say extremist groups and bad faith actors are attempting to take advantage of the tensions.

"When there is a major event in the United States -- particularly an event that the reaction to is polarized, that is highly politicized, that evokes a passionate and even angry response by those who are impacted by these events -- you can be assured that those who wish for the downfall of the United States are going to seek to exploit it," said John Cohen, a former Department of Homeland Security official and ABC News contributor.
Extremists hijack Israeli-Palestinian debate

The terrorist group Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and Israel retaliated with a bombing campaign and total siege of the neighboring Gaza Strip.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed and 6,900 others have been injured since Oct. 7, the Israeli prime minister's office said as of Tuesday. In the neighboring Gaza Strip, at least 11,240 people have been killed and another 29,000 have been injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

In the U.S., pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets to call for a cease-fire in the war, as well as aid and freedom for Palestinians who live in what has been described as an "open-air prison" by international organizations such as the United Nations and advocacy groups such as Amnesty International.

Pro-Israel demonstrators have called for the immediate return of the 239 hostages Israeli officials say were taken by Hamas in the terrorist attack, as well as American support for Israel and combating the rise in antisemitism around the world since Oct. 7. And on Tuesday, thousands of demonstrators from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., in support of Israel.