“Israeli troops battling Hamas militants encircled Gaza City on Thursday, the
military said, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. U.S. and Arab
leaders raised pressure on Israel to ease its siege of Gaza and at least
briefly halt its attacks in order to aid civilians. Nearly four weeks after
Hamas’ deadly rampage in Israel sparked the war, U.S Secretary of State Antony
Blinken was heading to the region for talks Friday in Israel and Jordan
following President Joe Biden’s suggestion for a humanitarian “pause” in the
fighting. The aim would be to let in aid for Palestinians and let out more
foreign nationals and wounded. Around 800 people left over the past two days.
Israel did not immediately respond to Biden’s suggestion. But Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who has previously ruled out a cease-fire, said Thursday:
“We are advancing … Nothing will stop us.” He vowed to destroy Hamas rule in
the Gaza Strip. An airstrike Thursday smashed a residential building to rubble
in the Bureij refugee camp several miles south of Gaza City. One boy, his face
covered in blood, cried as workers dug him out of the dirt and wreckage. Others
rushed wounded men and women, covered in dust, away on stretchers or wrapped in
blankets. At a nearby hospital, doctors tried to stanch the flow of blood from
the head of a child laid out on the floor.”











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Eye on Extremism



November 3, 2023



Associated Press: Israeli Troops Advance Toward Gaza City As The Palestinian
Death Toll Rises Above 9,000
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“Israeli troops battling Hamas militants encircled Gaza City on Thursday, the
military said, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. U.S. and Arab
leaders raised pressure on Israel to ease its siege of Gaza and at least
briefly halt its attacks in order to aid civilians. Nearly four weeks after
Hamas’ deadly rampage in Israel sparked the war, U.S Secretary of State Antony
Blinken was heading to the region for talks Friday in Israel and Jordan
following President Joe Biden’s suggestion for a humanitarian “pause” in the
fighting. The aim would be to let in aid for Palestinians and let out more
foreign nationals and wounded. Around 800 people left over the past two days.
Israel did not immediately respond to Biden’s suggestion. But Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who has previously ruled out a cease-fire, said Thursday:
“We are advancing … Nothing will stop us.” He vowed to destroy Hamas rule in
the Gaza Strip. An airstrike Thursday smashed a residential building to rubble
in the Bureij refugee camp several miles south of Gaza City. One boy, his face
covered in blood, cried as workers dug him out of the dirt and wreckage. Others
rushed wounded men and women, covered in dust, away on stretchers or wrapped in
blankets. At a nearby hospital, doctors tried to stanch the flow of blood from
the head of a child laid out on the floor.”



Reuters: Uncertain Future Awaits Afghan Nationals Repatriated By Pakistan
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“Pakistan opened more border centres on Friday to expedite the return of tens
of thousands of undocumented Afghan nationals, an official said, ignoring calls
by refugee groups to reconsider its mass expulsion plans. Facilities at the
northwestern border crossing of Torkham, where most immigrants are re-entering
Afghanistan, have been increased three times to cater to the rising number of
returnees, said Abdul Nasir Khan, deputy commissioner for the Khyber district.
"Everything is normal now as the returnees no longer needed to wait in queues
for hours," he told Reuters of the crossing, where thousands had thronged after
a Wednesday deadline expired for Afghans in the country illegally to leave.
Those arriving in Afghanistan complained of hardships they had to face to move
out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future. "We spent three days on
border in Pakistan. We had very bad situation," said Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55,
who said he lived for 22 years in the southwestern Pakistani border town of
Chaman where he had a retail business. "Thank God that we have arrived back to
our country," he said. It took him six days to leave his home in Pakistan with
his 16 family members and belongings to reach a makeshift tent village on the
other side of the border.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* CEP Calls For Global Freeze On The Qatari Investment Authority
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* Extremist Content Online: Antisemitic Conspiracy Video Praising Nazi
Germany Receives Over 1 Million Views On Twitter/X
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* CEP Calls For Additional Sanctions On Hamas Financiers Investment Portfolio
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* CEP-GLOBSEC Webinar: Violent Right-Wing Extremism In Czechia and Slovakia
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* CEP-GLOBSEC Webinar: Violent Right-Wing Extremism In Bulgaria And Hungary
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CEP Mentions



Politico: As The Middle East Strains, Fears Of Extremism Rise
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“…Pro-IS groups have also been active in this time, praising the savage Hamas
attacks and calling for action on European soil. On October 22, the pro-IS
Tala’a al-Ansar Foundation released a video celebrating the Brussels shooting
and urged its supporters to launch copycat attacks, according to the Counter
Extremism Project.”



United States



NBC: At Least 79 Americans Have Exited Into Egypt As Biden Calls For 'Pause'
To Get Hostages Out Of Gaza
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“More Americans and others were able to pass through the Rafah crossing out
of Gaza and into Egypt on Thursday, while Israel’s military reported that it
was encircling Gaza City in the north and fighting continued. Israel’s military
said that a cease-fire is not on the table as it wages war on Hamas. World
Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that
conditions for civilians, as well as those wounded and pregnant women, are
dire. “We’re running out of words to describe the horror unfolding in Gaza,” he
said. He called for at least a humanitarian pause in the fighting to get badly
needed aid to hospitals. Thirteen Democratic senators in a letter called for a
“short-term cessation of hostilities that pose high-risk to civilians, aid
workers and humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza.” In the House, a Republican-led
measure was passed that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel — but
which does not include aid to Ukraine — and which would also rescind the same
amount from new funding for the IRS that was approved in a 2022 law signed by
President Biden. Democrats called the House Republicans bill dead on arrival in
the Senate. Biden and Senate Democrats are backing a broader approach, pushing
for $106 billion for both Israel and Ukraine aid and humanitarian aid for Gaza,
as well as funding for U.S. border operations, in one package.”



NBC: Biden Officials Voice New Concerns And Warnings Over Israel’s War With
Hamas
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“As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and the death toll among
Palestinian civilians continues to rise, there is growing concern among top
Biden administration officials about how the Israelis are carrying out the war
and uncertainty about whether they can be reined in, according to two current
and two former senior U.S. officials familiar with the internal discussions.
Some administration officials also are worried that the U.S. could become more
and more isolated on the world stage over President Joe Biden’s close alignment
with Israel — and that he will be blamed for some of the Israeli military’s
actions, according to three current and former officials. Biden and his top
aides have in the past week adjusted the administration’s public message to
emphasize concern for Palestinian civilians and U.S. efforts to get them
humanitarian relief. The shift follows growing criticism at home and abroad of
Biden’s decision to swiftly and staunchly back Israel’s military response to
Hamas while initially speaking less forcefully about protecting Palestinians;
meanwhile, images of civilian casualties in Gaza continue to ricochet around
the world.”



NBC: Biden Campaign Heads To Miami To Dig At 'MAGA Extremism' During The GOP
Debate
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“When Republicans take the stage next week in Miami for their party’s third
presidential primary debate, President Joe Biden’s campaign plans to make
Florida and some of its most famous residents a central part of its response.
Although he won’t be on the stage, Democrats are expected to focus their
message once again on former President Donald Trump’s policies, “made even
worse by Ron DeSantis’ extremism,” according to a Biden campaign official. As
part of its presence, the Biden re-election effort will also strategically
place billboards around Trump’s expected rally in nearby Hialeah that evening
as a way to respond to the counterprogramming, in addition to the main event.
“Higher costs, ripping away freedoms, banning abortion, and lining the pockets
of special interests on the backs of middle class families — that’s the Florida
Blueprint brought to you by MAGA Republicans, and the American people simply
cannot afford that kind of outdated, failed leadership in the White House,”
Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said in a statement to NBC
News. “This is the MAGA extremism Donald Trump created and every Republican
running for president has embraced and emulates. It’s also exactly the kind of
unpopular, out-of-touch agenda the American people consistently reject at the
ballot box,” she said.”



Afghanistan



Reuters: Border Crossing With Afghanistan Swamped By Afghans After Pakistani
Expulsion Order
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“Thousands of people swamped Pakistan's main northwestern border crossing
seeking to cross into Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after the government's
deadline expired for undocumented foreigners to leave or face expulsion.
Pakistani authorities began rounding up undocumented foreigners, most of them
Afghans, hours before Wednesday's deadline. More than a million Afghans could
have to leave or face arrest and forcible expulsion as a result of the
ultimatum delivered by the Pakistan government a month ago. Scrambling to cope
with the sudden influx, the Taliban-run administration in Afghanistan said
temporary transit camps had been set up, and food and medical assistance would
be provided, but relief agencies reported dire conditions across the border.
"The organisations' teams stationed in the areas where people are returning
from Pakistan have reported chaotic and desperate scenes among those who have
returned," the Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council and
International Rescue Committee said in a joint statement. The Pakistani
government has brushed off calls from the United Nations, rights groups and
Western embassies to reconsider its expulsion plan, saying Afghans had been
involved in Islamist militant attacks and in crime that undermined the security
of the country.”



Pakistan



ABC: Pakistan Demolishes Homes, Raids Neighbourhoods To Force Millions Of
Afghans To Leave
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“Chaotic and desperate scenes have unfolded in Afghanistan as thousands of
people return from neighbouring Pakistan, where security forces are detaining
and deporting undocumented or unregistered foreigners. Three major aid
organisations — the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Danish Refugee Council
(DRC) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) — said many people fleeing
the Pakistani crackdown arrived in Afghanistan in poor condition. "The
conditions in which they arrive in Afghanistan are dire, with many having
endured arduous journeys spanning several days, exposed to the elements, and
often forced to part with their possessions in exchange for transportation,"
the agencies said in a statement. Pakistan's crackdown on illegal migration
mostly affects Afghans because they are the majority of foreigners living in
Pakistan, although the government said it was targeting all who are in the
country illegally. According to NRC estimates, there are 4.4 million Afghan
refugees living in Pakistan, with 1.73 million who have no legal documents to
stay. Many seem to have heeded the message from Pakistan and in the past few
days about 10,000 Afghans have been returning every day.”



Lebanon



The New York Times: Hezbollah’s Leader Addresses Followers About The War As
Concerns Over Wider Mideast Tensions Grow.
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“…Large screens had been put up in a number of locations throughout Lebanon
for the speech by Mr. Nasrallah, who has not spoken publicly since Hamas’s
surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Thousands of his supporters gathered to
watch at the largest event, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which was
decorated with Hezbollah and Palestinian flags. “We are for you, Nasrallah,”
supporters chanted. As the war has heightened tensions across the Middle East,
officials from across the region and beyond are closely watching Hezbollah, a
Hamas ally that is also supported by Iran and committed to the destruction of
Israel, for signs that the violence could spread. Hezbollah, like Hamas, has
been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and other
countries. Early in the speech, which is ongoing, Mr. Nasrallah said in an
implied reference to the Oct. 7 attack that there was no battle that was more
justified from a religious and moral perspective “than the battle with these
Zionists.” He suggested that a “great event” had been needed to restore the
Palestinian cause as “the number one issue in the world.”



Reuters: Hezbollah Leader Set To Weigh In On Middle East War
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“Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will on Friday make his first
public comments since the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel went to war, a
speech that will be scrutinised for clues on how the group's role in the
conflict might evolve. A formidable military force backed by Iran, Hezbollah
has been engaging Israeli forces along the border, where 55 of its fighters
have been killed in the deadliest escalation since it fought a war with Israel
in 2006. On the eve of the speech, Hezbollah mounted what appeared to be its
biggest attack yet in more than three weeks of fighting, saying it launched 19
simultaneous strikes on Israeli army positions and using explosive drones for
the first time. Israel responded with air strikes along with tank and artillery
fire as the fighting on the border escalated. However, with the clashes so far
mostly contained to the frontier, Hezbollah has still only drawn on a fraction
of the firepower with which Nasrallah has been threatening Israel for years.
Many people in Lebanon are anxiously awaiting the 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) speech,
rattled for weeks by fear of a catastrophic conflict. Some say they are not
making plans beyond Friday, believing his remarks will signal the chances of
escalation.”



Wall Street Journal: Russia’s Wagner Group Plans To Send Air Defenses To
Hezbollah, U.S. Says
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“Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary organization, plans to provide an
air-defense system to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, U.S. officials say,
citing intelligence. The Russian SA-22 system they plan to send uses
antiaircraft missiles and air-defense guns to intercept aircraft. One U.S.
official said that Washington hasn’t confirmed that the system has been sent.
But officials are monitoring discussions involving Wagner and Hezbollah, and
officials say the potential delivery is a major concern. The Russian. Embassy
didn’t respond to a request for comment, but a U.S. spokeswoman expressed
concern Thursday night about the potential weapons transfer. “The information
that was reported by The Wall Street Journal is concerning,” said Adrienne
Watson, the spokeswoman for the White House’s National Security Council. “We
know that Russia has refused to condemn Hamas for its horrific terrorist attack
on Israel and they recently hosted Hamas officials in Moscow. This comes as
Russia is continuing to commit atrocities in Ukraine.” In Syria, Wagner troops
have played an important role in shoring up the country’s leader, President
Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”



Middle East



Bloomberg: Israel’s Fight With Iran Proxies In Syria Poisons Russia Ties
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“Since it went to war with Hamas early last month, Israel has stepped up
strikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria which have moved close to the
Israeli border. The development comes with a key shift in Israeli policy — it
no longer always warns Syria’s patron Russia in advance of attacks on Syrian
territory. The change, reported by people familiar with the situation, along
with the stepped-up assaults, is worsening already troubled relations between
Israel and Russia. There’s a danger, moreover, of Syria emerging as a new front
in the Israel-Hamas war, a situation the US and regional allies are trying to
avoid as they seek to contain the conflict. Tensions are already high on
Israel’s border with Lebanon, Hezbollah’s base and from where it’s exchanging
fire with the Israeli military on a daily basis. “Spillover into Syria is not
just a risk; it has already begun,” Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special
envoy for the country, said this week. “Fuel is being added to a tinderbox that
was already beginning to ignite.” Over the last decade, Syria became a global
battleground. The US has almost 1,000 troops there to counter Islamist
extremists and Turkey is fighting Kurdish groups in the north. Iran and Russia,
meanwhile, are helping President Bashar al-Assad stay in power. Hundreds of
thousands of people have been killed, and millions forced to flee.”



CNBC: Strait Of Hormuz Is In Focus As Israel-Hamas War Threatens To Spread
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“It’s been nearly four weeks since Israel declared war on Palestinian
militant group Hamas, and as the conflict in Gaza enters the second stage,
concerns of a spillover into the wider Middle East region is also mounting.
Market observers are keeping a close eye on the the Strait of Hormuz — the
world’s most important oil transit chokepoint, to see if there may be any
potential impact. The strait, which sits between Oman and Iran, is a vital
channel where about one fifth of global oil production flow daily, according to
the Energy Information Administration. It is a strategically important waterway
linking crude producers in the Middle East with key markets across the world.
On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched a multi-pronged attack by land, sea and air
and infiltrated Israel, killing more than 1,400 people. In retaliation, Israel
launched air strikes and a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip, which has so
far killed more than 9,000 people in the enclave. Risks of it spiraling into a
wider conflict remain. The U.S. has deployed military assets to the region to
support Israel which is fending off rocket volleys from Iran-backed militants
in neighboring Lebanon and Syria.”



The Times Of Israel: IDF Troops Clash With Palestinian Gunmen In West Bank,
Raze Terrorist’s Home In Nablus
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“The Israel Defense Forces says troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen and
rioters in the West Bank overnight, and demolished the home of a Hamas
terrorist charged with involvement in a deadly shooting attack in February. The
Palestinian Authority health ministry reports that seven Palestinians were
killed by Israeli forces overnight. The military says troops entered the West
Bank city of Nablus to demolish the home of Khaled Kharousha, the son of the
perpetrator of the Huwara shooting attack in February that left brothers Hallel
and Yagel Yaniv dead, and who is charged with helping plan the attack. Amid the
operation, troops arrested three wanted Palestinians affiliated with Hamas, and
clashed with gunmen, the IDF says. Meanwhile, in Jenin, the IDF says it carried
out an airstrike against a group of gunmen hurling explosive devices at Israeli
forces. Clashes have been reported elsewhere in the West Bank. The PA health
ministry says three were killed in Jenin, two in Hebron, one in Nablus and
another in Qalandiya. The IDF says that since the war in the Gaza Strip began
on October 7, troops have arrested more than 1,260 wanted Palestinians in the
West Bank, including some 760 affiliated with Hamas.”



Nigeria



BBC: Boko Haram Kills 37 In Nigeria's Yobe State - Police
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“The mourners died after their vehicle drove over an explosive device planted
by the insurgents in Yobe state. On Monday, the militants shot dead 17 people
in a raid on Gurokayeya village. Boko Haram orchestrated the attacks after the
villagers refused to pay a so-called harvest tax, police said. The militants
have frequently been accused of extorting payments from residents in
north-eastern Nigeria to fund their operations and to exert control over
communities. "This is one of the most horrific attacks by Boko Haram in recent
times. For a burial group to be attacked shortly after the loss of their loved
ones is beyond horrific," resident Idris Geidam told the Associated Press news
agency. Yobe police spokesman Dungus Abdulkarim said that 10 members of the
burial group died on the spot while another 10 died at a health centre where
they were rushed to for treatment. The incident occurred on Tuesday - a day
after the deadly raid on Gurokayeya village. The attacks are the first major
assault that Boko Haram has waged in Yobe in more than a year. State
authorities said they suspected that the militants had arrived from
neighbouring Borno state, where Boko Haram has carried out several attacks
against civilians this year.”



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