Eye on Extremism

October 23, 2023 

Fox News: Hamas Terrorists Had Instructions For Using Cyanide-Based Chemical Bombs, Linking To Al Qaeda: Reports

“Israeli officials say Hamas terrorists killed during the Oct. 7 attack in the southern portion of the country were found to be carrying instructions on how to use cyanide-based chemical bombs, according to reports. The massacre at the kibbutz is one of many scenes of unspeakable bloodshed perpetrated by Hamas. Axios reportedly reviewed Israeli intelligence that showed Hamas terrorists carried instructions stored on USB devices that included detailed diagrams for a "cyanide dispersion device." The intelligence was found on the USB devices discovered on the dead bodies of militants who invaded Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza Strip in Southern Israel. "This finding points to an intention by Hamas to use chemical weapons as part of its terror attack against civilians," Israel said in a cable to its embassies. Israeli officials also told the embassies the terrorists were ordered to "conduct attacks in a similar way that ISIS tried to do." Sky News interviewed Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, who confirmed the instructions and said they dated back to 2003 and were from an Al Qaeda design for chemical weapons. "It’s Al Qaeda material. Official Al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas," President Herzog said. "This is how shocking the situation is where we’re looking at the instructions that are given on how to operate and how to create a kind of non-professional chemical weapon with cyanide."”

Associated Press: A Car Bombing At A Somali Military Facility Kills 6 People, Including 4 Soldiers, Police Say

“An explosives-laden car detonated at a military facility on the outskirts of Somalia’s capital Saturday and killed at least six people, four of them soldiers, police said. Police spokesman Sadik Dodishe said nine others, including five soldiers, were wounded in the suicide bombing at the military facility in the Elasha Biyaha area of the Lower Shabelle region. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility. The group frequently carries out such attacks. Photos shared on the social media platform X showed the extent of the damage caused by the explosion, which destroyed the security base and several civilian houses in the vicinity. ”The sound of the explosion was deafening ... and I saw a plume of smoke going up in the sky,” witness Ayan Hussein, a resident of Elasha Biyaha, said by phone. She said she saw several injured people being carried into an ambulance. Somalia’s federal government has battled al-Shabab for years. Security forces stepped up their assault on the group in recent months, including trying to dismantle its propaganda network. Information Minister Daud Aweis told reporters that authorities had shut down four radio stations affiliated with the group and killed nearly 3,800 al-Shabab fighters during a military offensive in which federal forces reclaimed 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of territory.”

CEP Expert Analysis

• The Houthis and U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
• Afghanistan Terorism Report: July 2023 
• Afghanistan Terrorism Report: June 2023 
• West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Development Of Al-Qaeda In The Western Sahel Region 
• West Africa's Terrorism Challenge: Status Of ISWAP And ISGS In West Africa And Sahel 

United States

CNN: A Father And Family Members Are Convicted In Terrorism And Kidnapping Case That Resulted In Death Of 3-Year-Old Boy On New Mexico Compound

“A father and several of his family members were convicted of charges in a terrorism and kidnapping case in which his 3-year-old son was found dead on a New Mexico compound, prosecutors said Friday. A federal jury convicted four members of the family Tuesday after their 2018 arrest following a raid at the rural New Mexico compound, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said in a news release Friday. Officers were searching the compound for 3-year-old Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, who had been abducted by his father, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, from his wife in Georgia, authorities said. The boy’s decomposed remains were found at the compound, authorities said. During the raid, authorities also found 11 emaciated children wearing rags and no shoes. The group had apparently been living off the grid for months in the trash-ridden lot. Jurors convicted Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and his brother-in-law Lucas Morton on charges including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder an officer or employee of the United States, jury verdict sheets show. Morton was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death, according to the jury sheets.”

The New York Times: DeSantis Says He Would Cancel Student Visas Of Hamas Sympathizers

“In a competition of hawkish messages on Israel, Ron DeSantis pledged on Friday night to revoke the student visas of Hamas sympathizers if elected president, while Tim Scott said he would withhold Pell grants from universities that failed to stamp out antisemitism. At an Iowa showcase featuring most of the top Republican presidential contenders, the Florida governor and the South Carolina senator engaged in one-upmanship about who would best support Israel, America’s closest Middle East ally. With their focus on students and academic institutions, they repackaged a traditional line of attack for Republicans: that liberal college campuses foster “woke” extremism, which they said was now taking the form of anti-Israel expressions. “You see students demonstrating in our country in favor of Hamas,” Mr. DeSantis said. “Remember, some of them are foreigners.” Mr. DeSantis then warned that if he became president, “I’m canceling your visa and I’m sending you home.” His remarks, during a tailgate at a construction plant in Iowa City, echoed recent talking points of former President Donald J. Trump, the G.O.P. front-runner, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken this week urging him to rescind the visas of “Hamas sympathizers.””

NPR: Pentagon Says It Shot Down Yemen Missiles That May Have Been Headed Towards Israel

“The Pentagon said it shot down missiles fired from Yemen and potentially headed towards Israel. The report came just a day after U.S. troops were attacked in Iraq and Syria, stoking fears of a regional expansion of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The USS Carney, which is currently stationed in the Northern Red Sea, successfully intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones that had been launched by Houthi forces in Yemen, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon's press secretary. No one was injured in the incident. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Ryder said the Pentagon was still working to determine the weapons' intended target, but told reporters they were heading north and "potentially towards targets in Israel." Defense analysts and military officials believe the Houthis have medium-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel, more than 1,300 miles away. The Carney is equipped with various missile defense systems, though the Pentagon hasn't said which system was used to destroy the missiles.”

Afghanistan

PBS: Afghan Women, Girls Face Array Of Challenges After Deadly Earthquakes, UN Says

“Women and girls are in a “not only difficult … but deadly” situation following recent earthquakes in Afghanistan because of the humanitarian and civil rights crises in the country since the Taliban seized power, a U.N. official said Sunday. An update from U.N. Women highlighted some of the problems women are facing in areas of Herat province, where a series of violent earthquakes and aftershocks this month killed thousands of people, more than 90% of them women and children, and destroyed nearly every home.  Cultural norms make it impossible for women to share a tent with neighbors or other families, the U.N. agency said in its update published Thursday. Many women also have difficulty obtaining humanitarian aid if they don’t have male relative who can access it on their behalf and there is an absence of female workers aid distribution points, the U.N. said. Women affected by the earthquake have told the U.N. they cannot access aid without the national identity card, or tazkera, of a male relative. They need clothing, including the Islamic headscarf, so they can dress appropriately to access services and aid, according to the update.”

Middle East

The Times: Call To Boycott The Ritz Over Qatar’s Hamas Links

“…This weekend the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a non-profit international policy organisation, called for a boycott of three hotels in London that are owned by senior Qataris or the country’s sovereign wealth fund until “the Al Thani royal family surrender the orchestrators” of the October 7 attack. CEP, which has previously campaigned against Islamist terrorism and Iranian nuclear armament, claimed “Qatar’s role in the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas in Israel is indisputable”. It said in a statement: “It is untenable that the Qatari government should continue to profit from its business interests while funds are used to support the perpetrators of mass murder.”

Express Co: Met Police Blasted For 'Gaslighting' Over Response To Palestine Rally's 'Holy War' Chants

“…According to the Counter Extremism Project, Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in “at least 13 countries”, including Pakistan, Lebanon and Egypt and advocates for a "global caliphate". The group is not proscribed in the UK.”

The Telegraph: How The Israel-Hamas War Is Forcing A Rethink Of Cash From The Gulf

“…Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador to the UN, called for assets linked to the Qatari state and royal family to be frozen “until the Qataris turn over the worst of the worst terror leaders in the world”. Wallace, who now runs the US-based Counter Extremism Project, also called for the UK’s diplomatic ties with Doha to be suspended if the regime fails to apprehend Haniyeh and hand him over to American or Israeli authorities. That seems unlikely. “The UK and its allies have an enduring relationship with Qatar,” the foreign office said in response to Wallace’s demands. With winter approaching, Whitehall will be keenly aware that Britain has become dependent on Qatari shipments of liquified natural gas.”

Reuters: Israel Tells Gazans To Move South Or Risk Being Seen As 'Terrorist' Partner

“Palestinians said they had received renewed warnings from Israel's military to move from north Gaza to the south of the strip, with the added warning that they could be identified as sympathisers with a "terrorist organisation" if they stayed put. The message was delivered in leaflets marked with the Israel Defense Forces name and logo from Saturday and sent to people via mobile phone audio messages across the Gaza Strip, a narrow territory that is just 45 km (28 miles) long. "Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organisation," the leaflet said. Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7. Israel has massed troops and armour on the border with Gaza ahead of an expected land incursion. The Israeli military said in a statement it had "no intention to consider those who have not evacuated ... as a member of the terrorist group". It added that it did not target civilians. "In order to minimize civilian harm, the IDF sent a request to the residents of the northern area of the Gaza Strip to evacuate southward of Wadi Gaza," it said.”

Wall Street Journal: Israel Intensifies Bombing On Multiple Fronts, Prepares For Gaza Ground Operation

“Israel ramped up its bombing of targets on three fronts, including a rare airstrike in the West Bank, as humanitarian aid trickled into the Gaza Strip in an international effort to ease the hardship the conflict has wrought on the two million civilians trapped there. An Israeli soldier died during an operation in Gaza, and the Israeli military struck a mosque compound in the West Bank’s city of Jenin that it said was being used by militants to plan attacks. It also struck a target in southern Lebanon, where it said militants were attempting to launch antitank missiles at the Israeli side of the border. International efforts remained under way to free hostages in Gaza and prevent the fight from escalating into a regional conflict. President Biden held talks Sunday with leaders in Israel, the U.K., France and other countries as Israel weighed the consequences of any ground invasion of Gaza. The raid in Gaza in which one Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded was aimed at preparing for a ground operation and to gather information about hostages that Hamas took during its attacks on Oct. 7, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Sunday. Hamas’s armed wing said on its Telegram channel that Israeli soldiers were ambushed in southern Gaza. Neither side said whether Hamas was involved in the clash.”

Associated Press: Biden Says Hamas Attacked Israel In Part To Stop A Historic Agreement With Saudi Arabia

“President Joe Biden said Friday he thought Hamas was motivated to attack Israel in part by a desire to stop that country from normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia. “One of the reasons ... why Hamas moved on Israel, is because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Biden said at a campaign fundraiser. The U.S. president indicated that he thinks Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on Oct. 7 because, “Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel” and were near being able to formally do so. Jerusalem and Riyadh had been steadily inching closer to normalization, with Biden working to help bring the two countries together, announcing plans in September at the Group of 20 summit in India to partner on a shipping corridor. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September and told him, “I think that under your leadership, Mr. President, we can forge a hi storic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia.” The Saudis had been insisting on protections and expanded rights for Palestinian interests as part of any broader agreement with Israel. An agreement would have been a feat of diplomacy that could have enabled broader recognition of Israel by other Arab and Muslim-majority nations that have largely opposed Israel since its creation 75 years ago in territory where Palestinians have long resided.”

United Kingdom

The Caterer: Call For Boycott Of Qatari-Owned London Hotels

“A counter-extremism group has called for the "full boycott" of Qatari-owned hotels such as the Ritz and the Connaught in London due to the country's links to Hamas. Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a non-profit international policy organisation, said: "It is untenable that the Qatari government should continue to profit from its business interests around the world while funds are re-patriated and used to support the perpetrators of mass murder." The proposed boycott, put forward by CEP chief executive officer Mark Wallace, former US ambassador to the UN, and CEP president Frances Townsend, encompasses the Savoy, the Ritz, the Connaught and the Churchill hotel, all of which are based in London. According to The Times, the Savoy is part-owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, the Ritz was bought by a Qatari businessman who is the brother-in-law of Qatar's rulers in 2020, and the Connaught is owned by Hamad bin Jassim, who was Qatar's prime minister when Hamas relocated to Doha.”

Europe

Associated Press: Belgian Minister Quits After ‘Monumental Error’ Let Tunisian Shooter Slip Through Extradition Net

“Belgium’s justice minister resigned on Friday over what he described as a “monumental error” after it was discovered that Tunisia was seeking the extradition last year of an Islamic extremist who shot dead two Swedes and wounded a third this week. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said that he and his services had been searching for details to understand how Abdesalem Lassoued had disappeared off the map two years ago after being denied asylum and ordered by Belgian authorities to be deported to Tunisia. On Monday night, Lassoued gunned down two Swedish men and wounded a third with a semiautomatic rifle. The attack forced the lockdown of more than 35,000 people in a soccer stadium where they had gathered to watch Belgium play Sweden. In a video posted online, he claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State group. Police shot him dead on Tuesday morning in a Brussels cafe. “This morning at nine o’clock, I remarked the following elements: On Aug. 15, 2022, there was an extradition demand by Tunisia for this man,” Van Quickenborne told reporters on Friday evening. “This demand was transmitted on Sept. 1, as it should have been, by the justice expert at the Brussels prosecutor’s office. The magistrate in charge did not follow up on this extradition demand and the dossier was not acted upon,” he said.”

The Guardian: Al-Qaida And IS Call On Followers To Strike Israeli, US And Jewish Targets

“l-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) have called on their followers to strike Israeli, US and Jewish targets, raising the prospect of new terrorist violence in the Middle East or the west. In a series of statements over the past two weeks, affiliates of al-Qaida congratulated Hamas on its “invasion of Israel”, a reference to the terrorist attacks that killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, on 7 October. The Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has caused a humanitarian crisis and so far killed more than 4,500 people, according to medical authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory, has provoked outrage across the Islamic world. This offers an opportunity to extremist groups, experts say. A recent statement from al-Shabaab, al-Qaida’s powerful affiliate in Somalia, said the conflict in the Middle East was not just “the battle of the Islamic factions in the land of Palestine in particular, but rather the battle of the entire Muslim Ummah”. It added: “Muslims must gather and offer everything they can to support the mujahideen against the Jews and their hypocritical infidel allies. The strength of this nation lies in the strength of its jihadist fronts.””

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