“A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other
Palestinians seeking shelter Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, the Hamas-run
Health Ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli
military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants. At least 500
people were killed, the ministry said. As rage spread through the region
because of the hospital carnage, and with President Joe Biden heading to the
Mideast in hopes of stopping the war from spreading, Jordan’s foreign minister
said his country canceled a regional summit scheduled for Wednesday in Amman,
where Biden was to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The war between
Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink,” Jordanian Foreign
Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television. He said Jordan would host the
summit only when everyone had agreed its purpose would be to “stop the war,
respect the humanity of the Palestinians and deliver the aid they deserve.”
Biden will now visit only Israel, a White House official said. The explosion at
the al-Ahli Hospital left gruesome scenes. Video that The Associated Press
confirmed was from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the
hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. The
grass around them was strewn with blankets, school backpacks and other
belongings.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 18, 2023



Associated Press: After Blast Kills Hundreds At Gaza Hospital, Hamas And
Israel Trade Blame As Rage Spreads In Region
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“A massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other
Palestinians seeking shelter Tuesday, killing hundreds of people, the Hamas-run
Health Ministry said. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli
military blamed a rocket misfired by other Palestinian militants. At least 500
people were killed, the ministry said. As rage spread through the region
because of the hospital carnage, and with President Joe Biden heading to the
Mideast in hopes of stopping the war from spreading, Jordan’s foreign minister
said his country canceled a regional summit scheduled for Wednesday in Amman,
where Biden was to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The war between
Israel and Hamas was “pushing the region to the brink,” Jordanian Foreign
Minister Ayman Safadi told state-run television. He said Jordan would host the
summit only when everyone had agreed its purpose would be to “stop the war,
respect the humanity of the Palestinians and deliver the aid they deserve.”
Biden will now visit only Israel, a White House official said. The explosion at
the al-Ahli Hospital left gruesome scenes. Video that The Associated Press
confirmed was from the hospital showed fire engulfing the building and the
hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children. The
grass around them was strewn with blankets, school backpacks and other
belongings.”



Reuters: Islamic State Claims Responsibility For Brussels Attack -Group's
Channel On Telegram
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“Islamic State claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in Brussels,
according to the group's channel on Telegram on Tuesday, which said one of its
fighters carried out the attack that killed two people. A man suspected of
shooting dead two Swedish football fans and wounding another in Brussels was a
45-year-old Tunisian who had an asylum application rejected in 2020 but
continued to live in Belgium illegally, according to Belgian officials.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* Hamas’s Attack on Israel: This Must be a Moment of International Action
<[link removed]>
* Violence-Oriented Right-Wing Extremist Actors in Russia: The Other Russia
of E. V. Limonov – Part 2
<[link removed]>
* Violence-Oriented Right-Wing Extremist Actors in Russia: The Other Russia
of E. V. Limonov – Part 1
<[link removed]>
* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in September 2023
<[link removed]>
* “And if I stay, I post”: The Latest Case of German ISIS Supporters and
Their Media-Jihad
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United States



Reuters: U.S. Says It Thwarted Drone Attack On Its Troops In Iraq
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“The U.S. military thwarted an attack targeting its forces in Iraq early on
Wednesday, intercepting two drones before they could strike, two U.S. officials
said after the first such attack on U.S. forces in Iraq in more than a year.
The officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, declined to say
who was suspected of the attack but Washington is on heightened alert for
activity by Iran-backed groups amid soaring tension in the region over the
Israel-Hamas war. Last week, Iraqi armed groups aligned with Iran threatened to
target U.S. interests with missiles and drones if Washington intervened to
support Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The one-way attack drones were
intercepted as they attempted to strike Iraq's al Asad air base, which hosts
American troops, the officials said. The attack came hours after a strike on a
Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, raising the stakes for U.S.
President Joe Biden as he flies to Israel on Wednesday to signal support for
its war against Hamas. Israel blamed the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital on
a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which denied
responsibility. Palestinian officials said an Israeli air strike hit the
hospital, with the Palestinian Authority's health minister accusing Israel of
causing a "massacre". In Iraq, tension over the war in Gaza had already been
high. Its top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week
condemned Israel and called on the world to stand up to the "terrible
brutality" in Gaza.”



Associated Press: Former Brooklyn Resident Sentenced To Life In Prison For
Aiding Islamic State Group As Sniper
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“A former New York stock broker who fled his job and family to fight
alongside Islamic State militants in Syria, then maintained his allegiance to
the extremist group throughout his trial, was sentenced to life in prison on
Tuesday. Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, who served as a sniper and instructor for
the Islamic militant group at the height of its power, sat grinning in the
Brooklyn courtroom, flashing a thumbs-up and stroking his bushy beard as a
judge read out the sentencing. His own court-appointed attorney, Susan Kellman,
declined to ask for a lighter sentence, noting her client was not interested in
distancing himself from the Islamic State fighters in exchange for leniency.
“It’s rare that I start my remarks at sentencing by saying I agree with the
government,” Kellman said. “This is who he is. This is what he believes,
fervently.” Asainov, a 47-year-old U.S. citizen originally born in Kazakhstan,
was living in Brooklyn in late 2013 when he abandoned his young daughter and
wife to fight alongside the Islamic State group in Syria. After receiving
training as a sniper, he participated in pivotal battles that allowed the
militant group to seize territory and establish its self-proclaimed caliphate
based on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law. He rose to a rank of
“emir,” or chief, then taught more than 100 aspiring snipers, acting as a
“force multiplier” for the Islamic State group’s “bloody, brutal campaign,”
according to prosecutors.”



Bloomberg: Lawmakers Press Biden On Plans To Prevent Use Of Crypto In The
‘Financing Of Terrorism’
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“Eighty-six members of Congress representing both Democrats and Republicans
pressed the Biden administration for details on how it plans to prevent
militant organizations from using crypto in the “financing of terrorism.” In an
Oct. 17 letter, led by senators Elizabeth Warren and Roger Marshall, along with
representative Sean Casten, to the US Treasury Department and the National
Security Council, the lawmakers noted that militant Islamist groups Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) raised millions of dollars in crypto in the
months leading up to Hamas’ attack on Israel. Between August 2021 and this
June, the groups raised over $130 million in crypto, with PIJ sending more than
$12 million in crypto to Hezbollah since 2023, according to the letter, which
cited a Wall Street Journal report. On Oct. 7, Hamas militants in Gaza launched
an invasion of southern Israel, killing more than 1,300 people and taking
dozens of hostages. Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed
more than 2,650 people in Gaza since then. “That the deadly attack by Hamas on
Israeli civilians comes as the group has become ‘one of the most sophisticated
crypto users in the terror-finance domain’ clarifies the national security
threat crypto poses to the U.S., and our allies,” the lawmakers wrote.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: 5 Hezbollah Fighters Are Killed As Tensions Flare Along The
Border Between Lebanon And Israel
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“Clashes erupted Tuesday along the Lebanon-Israel border that left five
Hezbollah fighters dead, marking the largest number of casualties for the
militant group in a single day as tensions with Israel escalate. Israeli forces
and armed groups in Lebanon have engaged in a series of low-level skirmishes
since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza between the Israeli military and
the Hamas militant group. Hezbollah has announced the death of 10 militants
since skirmishes began. Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi threatened
that Israel would retaliate aggressively should Hezbollah escalate. “This is a
war on the home,” Halevi said after meeting with Israeli troops near the
northern border with Lebanon. “If Hezbollah makes a mistake, it will be
annihilated.” The escalation comes amid fears that the war could spread into
Lebanon, where Hezbollah has expressed strong support to the militant
Palestinian group Hamas. Israel considers the heavily-armed group in Lebanon an
even bigger threat than Hamas. So far, artillery exchanges between Hezbollah
and Israel have been limited to several towns along the border. Israel has
threatened that if Hezbollah opens a new front, all of Lebanon will suffer the
consequences. Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in
a draw. Since then, apart from limited clashes and escalated rhetoric,
Hezbollah’s military caliber has significantly increased, and became a key
military actor in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere in the region.”



Middle East



The Guardian: ‘It Will Be Worse Than Hamas’: Order To Evacuate Strikes Fear
Into North Israel
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“Amid the spectacular scenery of northern Israel, where the mountains roll
away into views of Lebanon and Syria, it is deceptively quiet. At this time of
year, the area is normally full of the last of the Jewish high holiday season’s
tourists, making the most of the cooler weather to hike and go apple picking.
Instead, on Monday, the Israeli defence ministry gave an unprecedented order
for residents of 28 villages and kibbutzim within 2km (1.25 miles) of the blue
line that separates the country from Lebanon to evacuate south. The state is
gearing up for the possible outbreak of hostilities with Hezbollah, the
powerful Lebanese militia backed by Iran, at the same time as the new war with
Hamas in the blockaded Gaza Strip. The northern front, like the southern one
before it, is emptying, after repeated rocket and missile attacks and border
skirmishes in recent days with Hezbollah and Palestinian factions active in
Lebanon. The mood across Israel is frantic, trust in the army and the state
diminished. For the communities living here, the evacuation order is not just
about history repeating itself, or the occasional volley of rockets that set
off air raid sirens. It is also frightening for its novelty. The odds of
escalation with Hezbollah, Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank – or
even a head-on collision with Iran, after years of “shadow war” across the
region – are higher than they have ever been.”



Haaretz: Israeli Hospital Refuses To Treat Hamas Terrorist, Sources Cite
‘National Feelings’
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“Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem refused to treat a captured Hamas
terrorist on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, it said in a statement.
According to the hospital, security officials tried to admit the man, who was
captured after the Hamas attacks on Israel’s south, during the night but were
refused. A source at the hospital said the decision was made because treatment
would “offend national feelings.” “The hospital feels that it would be wrong to
treat Hamas terrorists right now,” a source at Hadassah said. “It would offend
national feelings. We are still treating more than 130 wounded from the south,
entire families, in every ward.” In a statement, the hospital said that it had
not and would not provide any treatment to any terrorists involved in the war.
Hadassah’s announcement followed Health Minister Moshe Arbel’s announcement
last week of a policy by which public hospitals would not admit terrorists, who
would be treated by solely at facilities operated by the military or national
prison service. Arbel informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Wednesday
that he had given this order to public hospitals. “In these difficult times,
the health care system needs to focus solely on caring for the victims of the
despicable massacre and IDF soldiers and on preparing for whatever comes next,”
Arbel said. “The task of securing and treating these vile terrorists in the
public health care system significantly harms these efforts.””



Mali



Associated Press: U.N. Peacekeepers In Mali Withdraw From Two Bases In The
North As Fighting Intensifies
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“United Nations peacekeepers started departing from two bases in northern
Mali Monday as part of a forced withdrawal from the country amid increasing
insecurity and a rise in attacks by Islamic extremists. The U.N. mission said
it wanted to complete its departure quickly from two camps in the Kidal region,
Tessalit and Aguelhok. Attacks in northern Mali have more than doubled since
the peacekeepers completed the first phase of their withdrawal in August. “In
view of the rapidly deteriorating security conditions for the lives of hundreds
of peacekeepers ... the mission is doing its utmost to complete this process as
soon as possible, including if necessary, accelerating its withdrawal from the
Kidal camp, originally scheduled for mid-November,” a UN statement said.
Earlier this year, Mali’s military junta ordered the U.N. mission to leave the
country, which has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since
2012. The operation in Mali became one of the most dangerous in the world, with
more than 150 peacekeepers killed since it began operations in 2013. Violence
is spiking between ethnic Tuareg rebels, known as the Permanent Strategic
Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD) and Mali’s military.
Analysts say the uptick signals the breakdown of a 2015 peace agreement signed
between the government and the rebels who once drove security forces out of
northern Mali as they sought to create the state of Azawad.”



Europe



AFP: Deadly Attacks Put Response Of Europe’s Spies Under Spotlight
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“…Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project NGO,
pointed out that violence online can lead to violence on the streets. He said
Sweden was the focus of an online campaign by Islamists that was intensifying
risks for the Nordic country. The German authorities arrested two brothers from
Syria in April, the eldest of whom had allegedly planned to “carry out an
attack on a church in Sweden where many people (were) assembled”. “This
demonstrates that this ongoing Islamist online campaign against Sweden has
effects and motivates individuals towards violence,” he said, pointing out that
the Israel-Hamas conflict could have a similar effect.”



Associated Press: How Quran Burnings In Sweden Have Increased Threats From
Islamic Militants
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“The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack ahead of a soccer match in
Brussels has shocked the Scandinavian country, although the government has been
warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of
public desecrations of the Quran holy book by a handful of anti-Islam
activists. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday noted that the
government and the security service in August had raised the terror alert to
the second-highest level following threats against Sweden by Islamic
extremists. “Now we know with chilling clarity that there were grounds for
those concerns,” he said. The desecrations, primarily by an Iraqi refugee
living in Sweden, have sparked angry reactions in Muslim countries. In June,
demonstrators in Iraq stormed the Swedish Embassy and the Iraqi government cut
off diplomatic relations with Sweden. The desecrations have raised questions -–
including in Sweden -– about why such acts are allowed. Swedish officials have
repeatedly condemned the desecrations while saying they are allowed under
freedom of speech. The government is investigating whether to give police
greater authority to stop such acts on security grounds. “Not everything that
is legal is appropriate,” Kristersson said Tuesday. “What you do in Sweden can
have consequences elsewhere.””



China



Reuters: Taliban Representative Arrives In Beijing To Attend Belt And Road
Forum
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“The Taliban's acting commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi arrived in
Beijing on Tuesday to attend the Belt and Road Forum, the Afghan embassy said,
which is among the highest-profile summits it has been invited to since taking
power in 2021. Beijing has sought to grow its official ties with the Taliban
administration ever since U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew from the
country two years ago, despite its lack of formal recognition by any
government. The impoverished country could offer a wealth of coveted mineral
resources.”



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