“Gaza’s health system is failing, as the humanitarian crisis there reaches
unprecedented levels. Hospitals are on their last drops of fuel and some have
shut down. Sources of food are quickly running out, and people have resorted to
unsafe drinking water. U.N. shelters are also completely overrun, with some
holding 10 or 12 times as many people as intended, and can “no longer provide
dignified living conditions,” the U.N. relief agency UNRWA said. If fuel isn’t
allowed into Gaza soon, the UNRWA said it would be forced to reduce or stop
humanitarian operations. Growing international calls for a cease-fire, however,
have been met with fury by Israel, which angrily denounced the head of the U.N.
for saying that the attack had not happened “in a vacuum.” Meanwhile, the
United Nations Security Council failed, once again, to come to an agreement on
how to ensure aid reaches the Palestinian people after it shut down dueling
resolutions from the U.S. and Russia. Fears of broader escalation with
Hezbollah across the border in Lebanon as well as a ground war in Gaza are
still growing, as Israel conducted new strikes on the occupied West Bank and
against Syria overnight. Netanyahu said Israel was “getting ready” for ground
offensive in Gaza but wouldn’t reveal details.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 26, 2023



NBC News: Gaza Fuel Running Out; Hostage Talks Progressing
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“Gaza’s health system is failing, as the humanitarian crisis there reaches
unprecedented levels. Hospitals are on their last drops of fuel and some have
shut down. Sources of food are quickly running out, and people have resorted to
unsafe drinking water. U.N. shelters are also completely overrun, with some
holding 10 or 12 times as many people as intended, and can “no longer provide
dignified living conditions,” the U.N. relief agency UNRWA said. If fuel isn’t
allowed into Gaza soon, the UNRWA said it would be forced to reduce or stop
humanitarian operations. Growing international calls for a cease-fire, however,
have been met with fury by Israel, which angrily denounced the head of the U.N.
for saying that the attack had not happened “in a vacuum.” Meanwhile, the
United Nations Security Council failed, once again, to come to an agreement on
how to ensure aid reaches the Palestinian people after it shut down dueling
resolutions from the U.S. and Russia. Fears of broader escalation with
Hezbollah across the border in Lebanon as well as a ground war in Gaza are
still growing, as Israel conducted new strikes on the occupied West Bank and
against Syria overnight. Netanyahu said Israel was “getting ready” for ground
offensive in Gaza but wouldn’t reveal details.”



Associated Press: Israel Accuses UN Chief Of Justifying Terrorism For Saying
Hamas Attack ‘Didn’t Happen In A Vacuum’
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“Israeli officials expressed outrage Wednesday over U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres’ remarks that the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel “did
not happen in a vacuum,” saying his comment at a Security Council meeting
amounted to a justification for terrorism. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen canceled
a scheduled meeting with Guterres following Tuesday’s council meeting, Israel’s
U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called for Guterres’ resignation, and Yad Vashem,
Israel’s Holocaust memorial, said the U.N. chief “failed the test.” Guterres
responded to the Israeli criticism, telling reporters at U.N. headquarters in
New York that he was “shocked” at the misinterpretation of part of his
statement to the council, “as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas.” He
reiterated the start of his statement on Tuesday: “I have condemned
unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by
Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and
kidnapping of civilians — or the launching of rockets against civilian
targets.” The secretary-general said he spoke of the grievances of the
Palestinian people and also stated: “But the grievances of the Palestinian
people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.””



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Fighting Terror is a podcast that brings together counterterrorism experts and
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approaches to combating terrorism in our society. Our frank discussions cover
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United States



Voice Of America: US Asks Gulf States To Help Shut Down Hamas Fundraising
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“In an emergency session of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC)
this week, the U.S. called on allies in the Middle East to increase efforts to
cut off outside funding for Hamas, the organization that perpetrated a massive
attack on Israeli civilians on October 7. The Treasury Department called on the
member countries of the TFTC to use their influence to do more to cut off the
flow of funds to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million
Palestinians who have been under relentless Israeli shelling for more than two
weeks. The U.S. has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.
“From our perspective, not acting against Hamas and its terrorism is a
disservice to the Palestinian people,” Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism
and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a prepared statement released
Tuesday to the group. “From a financial standpoint, we can clearly see that
Hamas has exacerbated economic hardships for decades in the Gaza Strip by
diverting humanitarian assistance to support its campaign of terror, and we
must publicly condemn these actions.” The TFTC is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States.”



Associated Press: International Terror Defendants Face Longer Prison Terms
Than Domestic Counterparts, New Study Finds
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“People convicted of crimes related to domestic extremism face far shorter
prison terms than those convicted in international terrorism cases, even when
the crimes are similar, a new report on the outcomes of hundreds of federal
criminal cases has found. The first-of-its-kind analysis, completed by
terrorism researchers at the University of Maryland, was provided exclusively
to The Associated Press. It comes after federal officials and researchers have
repeatedly identified domestic violent extremists such as white supremacists
and anti-government groups as the most significant terror threat to the U.S.
And it follows scrutiny of the outcomes of Jan. 6 cases, including for some
Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who received sentences years lower than what was
called for by prosecutors and sentencing guidelines. President Joe Biden has
echoed the concerns about domestic terrorism, calling it a “stain on the soul
of America” and the “ most urgent terrorism threat ” faced by the country, yet
the new analysis shows that on average, domestic extremists receive more
lenient penalties.”



Turkey



Reuters: Turkey's Erdogan Says Hamas Is Not Terrorist Organisation, Cancels
Trip To Israel
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“Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza
conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a
terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian
lands. NATO member Turkey condemned the civilian deaths caused by Hamas's Oct.
7 rampage in southern Israel, but also urged Israeli forces to act with
restraint in their response. Ankara has strongly criticised Israel's
bombardment of Gaza. "Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation
group, 'mujahideen' waging a battle to protect its lands and people," he told
lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, using an Arabic word denoting those who
fight for their faith. Unlike many of its NATO allies and the European Union,
Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and hosts members of
the group on its territory. Ankara backs a two-state solution to the
decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Erdogan also slammed Western powers
for supporting Israel's bombing of Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire,
the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and for Muslim countries to
work together to stop the violence.”



Middle East



The National: Who Are The Key Targets On Israel’s Hamas Hit List?
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“… Director of The Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, believes
Israel will target Hamas’s military and political leadership but will take aim
at its military commanders first. “It is clear, of course, that 'destroying
Hamas' involves at minimum two sets of targets,” he said. “The priority is the
physical terrorist infrastructure, which includes tunnels, weapons, rockets and
fighters, as well as the terrorist command and control structure, which is the
leadership of the terrorist forces, the commanders and the Hamas intelligence
apparatus. “In my assessment, these are the things that Israel is focusing on
first. In addition, in order to reduce the influence that Hamas has, the
political leadership in and outside of Gaza is the second priority. “Hamas is a
hybrid organisation and therefore does ideological and social work in addition
to its terrorist activities," he added. "However, it is also a strictly
hierarchical organisation, meaning the overall leadership of the organisation
as well as its political/ideological leadership bear responsibility for the
terrorist activities and therefore are also important. “Furthermore, in order
to diminish Hamas’s influence in the Gaza Strip will mean that Israel will also
have to focus on the ideological structures that Hamas has set up to maintain
power in Gaza.”



NBC: Gaza Is Plagued By Poverty, But Hamas Has No Shortage Of Cash. Where Does
It Come From?
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“... Although the U.S. and the European Union have designated Hamas as a
terrorist organization, “they’re not effectively cut off from the international
financial system,” said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter
Extremism Project. “They actually are able to invest funds in companies and in
real estate.” Hamas’ leadership has invested its income in an international
investment portfolio worth $500 million in real estate and other assets from
companies in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates,
which it uses to conceal and launder its money, according to a Treasury
announcement. Cryptocurrencies have helped the group invest its money while
bypassing international financial sanctions according to a report by the
Counter Extremism Project. To combat those efforts. “Hamas was an early adopter
of fundraising in crypto starting in 2019,” said Ari Redbord, a former federal
prosecutor and global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, which
is working to track Hamas funding. “They were using Telegram channels to
solicit donations. They then stood up website infrastructure to solicit
donations.” Yet, experts, including Rebord, emphasize that cryptocurrency
remains a small piece of the group’s financial strategy.”



Fox News: Middle East Paying Price Of Biden White House Removing Houthis From
Terrorist List, Experts Say
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“Critics have urged the United States to consider reclassifying the Houthis
in Yemen as a terrorist organization as the Iran-backed group has mounted
attacks against Israel and U.S. military assets. "In word and in deed, the
Houthi’s in Yemen are proving to the world their connectivity to Iran’s axis of
resistance and why they should have remained on the U.S. terror list," Behnam
Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told
Fox News Digital. "Pulling punches and failing to hold Iran and it’s proxies to
account, even diplomatically, shows you how far things have devolved," he
added. Senior Pentagon officials on Monday discussed an expected "significant
escalation" of attacks against U.S. troops in the Middle East as tensions flare
following a Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that killed at least 1,400 people
and the subsequent retaliation that the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza
claimed has killed at least 5,700 Palestinians, including 2,360 children. The
U.S. said that preliminary intelligence did not indicate any Iranian
involvement in the planning or execution of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 but
claimed that subsequent attacks from various Islamic extremist groups, which
have injured dozens of American service members, have "Iranian fingerprints all
over them."”



Reuters: Israel Mounts New Sortie Into Gaza, Hints There May Be Several
'Invasions'
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“Israel said its ground forces had pushed into Gaza overnight to attack Hamas
targets as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was "preparing for
a ground invasion" that could be one of several. "I will not elaborate on when,
how or how many," he said in a televised update to citizens on Wednesday
evening. The besieged Palestinian enclave is already reeling from almost three
weeks of Israeli bombardment, which was triggered by a mass killing spree in
southern Israel by the Iranian-backed Hamas militants who run Gaza. Hamas has
threatened to kill some of the more than 200 hostages it brought back to Gaza,
of whom Israel says more than half hold foreign passports, from 25 countries.
Other Iranian-backed groups have since attempted attacks on Israel elsewhere in
the region; Western leaders fear that a high death toll among Palestinian
civilians, who have already been killed in large numbers by Israeli air
strikes, could spark a wider war. U.S. President Joe Biden held a call with
Netanyahu, discussing "ongoing efforts to locate and secure the release" of
Americans believed held hostage in Gaza, the White House said overnight.”



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