CEP Mentions
Yahoo News UK: Hezbollah: What Is It And Who Is Its Leader?
“…Hezbollah is described by the Counter Extremism Project, an organisation which works to combat extremist groups and ideologies, as an “Iranian-sponsored, internationally sanctioned terrorist group with an anti-Israel and anti-US agenda". It is based in Lebanon, "but has carried out terrorist and criminal operations around the world.” It has claimed it has 100,000 fighters. Like its ally Hamas, it is deemed a terrorist organisation by the UK government, which notes its commitment to "armed resistance to the state of Israel".”
United States
Associated Press: US And Arab Partners Disagree On The Need For A Cease-Fire As Israeli Airstrikes Kill More Civilians
“The United States and Arab partners disagreed Saturday on the need for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip as Israeli military strikes killed civilians at a U.N. shelter and a hospital, and Israel said the besieged enclave’s Hamas rulers were “encountering the full force” of its troops. Large columns of smoke rose as Israel’s military said it had encircled Gaza City, the initial target of its offensive to crush Hamas. Gaza’s Health Ministry has said more than 9,400 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in nearly a month of war, and that number is likely to rise as the assault continues. “Anyone in Gaza City is risking their life,” Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, airstrikes hit the Maghazi refugee camp in the central area of Gaza, and Palestinian health officials reported multiple casualties. Maghazi is in the evacuation zone where Israel had urged Palestinians to seek refuge. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab foreign ministers in Jordan on Saturday after talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted there could be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Arab countries want an immediate cease-fire, saying “the whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come.””
Iraq
Reuters: Blinken Visits Iraq In Bid To Prevent Gaza Spillover
“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday, as he tours the Middle East attempting to tamp down tensions after war erupted between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas last month. After an earlier visit to the occupied West Bank, Blinken landed in Baghdad on Sunday evening for his first visit to the country as the U.S. top diplomat and held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. Washington wants to prevent a wider regional conflict and has stepped up diplomacy with regional countries whose populations have been angered by Israel's assault on Gaza. Blinken landed at Baghdad’s international airport, donned a ballistic vest and traveled by Black Hawk helicopter to the Green Zone, a remnant of the U.S. occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion. At the U.S. ambassador’s residence he was briefed on threats to U.S. facilities, before heading to the prime minister’s office. He will travel to Turkey later on Sunday, where protests were already underway. Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah issued a warning on Saturday night that the expected Blinken visit would be met with "an unprecedented escalation."”
Turkey
Reuters: Pro-Palestinian Crowds Try To Storm Air Base Housing U.S. Troops In Turkey
“Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon as hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday tried to storm an air base that houses U.S. troops, hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Ankara for talks on Gaza. Turkey, which has stepped up its criticism of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened, supports a two-state solution while hosting members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Since the Israel-Hamas war started, protests have erupted across the country. Earlier this week, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, an Islamist Turkish aid agency, organised a convoy to travel to the Incirlik air base in the Adana province in southern Turkey to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza and U.S. support for Israel. Incirlik, which has been used to support the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, also houses U.S. troops. IHH's protest called for Incirlik to be closed. Footage from the protests showed police firing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse crowds waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting slogans. Protesters toppled barricades and clashed with police in riot gear.”
Afghanistan
Associated Press: Taliban Appeal To Afghan Private Sector To Help Those Fleeing Pakistan’s Mass Deportation Drive
“The Taliban on Saturday appealed to Afghanistan’s private sector to help people fleeing Pakistan’s mass deportation drive. Pakistan is arresting and expelling all foreigners it says are in the country illegally, but the policy mostly affects Afghans because they are the biggest group of undocumented foreigners in the country. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Kabul urged Afghanistan’s private sector to step forward and help. The Taliban made a similar plea last month after devastating earthquakes killed thousands of people and flattened entire villages in the west, asking Afghanistan’s “wealthy compatriots” to help survivors and affected communities. Nobody from the Taliban-led administration was available for comment Saturday. Afghans forcibly expelled from Pakistan are facing the worst situation of their lives, with no opportunities, the ministry said. “The ministry invites the private sector to take action because of the profound humanitarian disaster caused by the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of the poor and needy. It is the duty of Islam and Afghans to stand up for their fellow countrymen.” Afghanistan is overwhelmed by challenges, including years of drought, a beleaguered economy and the aftermath of decades of war. Millions are already internally displaced, raising concerns among the humanitarian community about the impoverished country being unable to support or integrate those leaving Pakistan.”
Reuters: Afghanistan Opium Poppy Supply Plummets 95% After Taliban Ban, U.N. Says
“Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, previously the world's top supplier, has plummeted since the Taliban administration banned the cultivation of narcotics last year, a United Nations report said on Sunday. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said opium cultivation fell throughout the country to just 10,800 hectares (26,700 acres) in 2023 from 233,000 hectares the previous year, slashing supply by 95% to 333 tons. This was putting pressure on farmers in the war-torn country, where most people depend on agriculture and the value of poppy exports had at times outstripped the value of all formal exported goods, UNODC said. The sharp decline could have major consequences for the economy in a country where around two-thirds of the population are already in need of humanitarian aid, the report said. "Over the coming months Afghanistan is in dire need of strong investment in sustainable livelihoods to provide Afghan farmers with opportunities away from opium," Ghada Waly, the executive director of UNODC, said in a statement. "This presents a real opportunity to build towards long-term results against the illicit opium market and the damage it causes both locally and globally."”
Pakistan
Reuters: Militants Attack Air Force Base In Central Pakistan, Says Military
“Nine Islamist militants attacked an air force training base in the central Pakistani area of Mianwali on Saturday damaging three "non-operational" aircraft, the military said, adding that all assailants had been killed by security forces. Three militants were killed before they entered the base while the others had been cornered before the clearance operation began, the military said in a statement. It did not mention any casualties amongst security personnel. The early Saturday attack startled residents living close by when volleys of gunfire broke the morning silence. "I woke up at around 3 a.m. after I heard massive gun shots which continued till around 7 a.m.," Zeeshan Niazi, a resident of Mianwali, told Reuters. The military said nine militants had been killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force Training Airbase Mianwali. An earlier statement said that six militants were involved in the attack. "No damage has been done to any of the Pakistan Air Force's functional operational assets, while only some damage was done to three already phased out non-operational aircraft during the attack," the military statement said. It earlier said a fuel tanker had also been damaged in the attack. "Due to the swift and effective response by the troops, (the attack) has been foiled and thwarted, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and assets," the statement said.”
Saudi Arabia
The Times Of Israel: Saudi Arabia Decries Minister’s ‘Extremist’ Suggestion That Israel Nuke Gaza
“The Saudi foreign ministry condemns the “extremist” suggestion by Heritage Minister Avichai Eliyahu that Israel might drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza, saying that it “shows to what extent extremism and brutality have penetrated the Israeli government.” The fact that Eliyahu was only suspended and not immediately fired, the Saudi statement continues, “reflects the Israeli government’s disregard for all values of humanity, morality, religion and law.””
Lebanon
Associated Press: Lebanon’s Militant Hezbollah Leader Threatens Escalation With Israel As Its War With Hamas Rages On
“Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that his powerful militia is already engaged in unprecedented fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border and threatened a further escalation as Israel’s war with Hamas nears the one-month mark. In televised remarks — his first since the Palestinian militants’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel — Nasrallah stopped short of announcing that Hezbollah would fully enter the war, a move that would have devastating consequences for both Lebanon and Israel. The United States, Israel’s strongest backer, has warned Hezbollah and its patron Iran against entering the fray and has sent warships to the Mediterranean, a move Nasrallah said “will not scare us.” Hezbollah is prepared for all options, he declared, “and we can resort to them at any time.” The fighting would “not be limited” to the scale seen so far, he added. In recent weeks, Hezbollah has fired rockets across the border daily, mainly hitting military targets in northern Israel, but it has a substantial arsenal capable of hitting anywhere in Israel and thousands of battle-hardened fighters. Nasrallah’s speech had been widely anticipated throughout the region as an indication of whether the Israel-Hamas conflict would spiral into a regional war.”
Reuters: Hezbollah Tells U.S. To Halt Israel's Gaza Attack To Prevent Regional War
“The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah warned the United States on Friday that preventing a regional conflict depended on stopping the Israeli attack on Gaza, and said there was a possibility of fighting on the Lebanese front turning into a full-fledged war. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in his first speech since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, also threatened Israel's main ally the United States, hinting his Iran-backed group was ready to confront U.S. warships in the Mediterranean. "You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces at the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since Oct. 8, with more than 55 of its fighters killed. But clashes have been largely contained to the border, and Hezbollah has so far used a fraction of the arsenal with which Nasrallah has long threatened Israel. Nasrallah said Hezbollah attacks so far at the border "won't be all" it does, adding that escalation on that front would hinge on events in Gaza and Israeli actions towards Lebanon.”
Middle East
Reuters: Israel Strikes Gaza Ambulance; Netanyahu Rejects Halt Without Hostage Release
“Israel struck an ambulance near a Gaza hospital on Friday in an attack the military said targeted militants, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls by Washington's top diplomat for a halt to fighting unless hostages held by Hamas are freed. Warning Israel and the U.S. of a potential regional war, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said fighting on the Israel-Lebanon frontier could escalate further and hinted his Iran-backed group was ready to confront U.S. warships in the region. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules the Palestinian Gaza Strip, after the militant group killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 others hostage in an Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel. The Israeli military has struck Gaza from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground assault, stirring global alarm at humanitarian conditions in the enclave. Food is scarce, medical services are collapsing and Gaza health officials say more than 9,250 Palestinians have been killed. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza, said 15 people were killed and 60 wounded when Israel struck an ambulance that was part of a convoy at Gaza's biggest hospital, al-Shifa.”
NBC: Israeli Settlers Drive A New Wave Of Anti-Palestinian Violence In The Occupied West Bank
“Half an hour before Eisa Jebril was killed, his mother, Samiha, was rolling him stuffed grape leaves. It was a dish he loved, but one she would never make for him again — the next time she saw him, he had been shot through the head, her family said, by an Israeli settler dressed as a soldier. “I was there with him. I carried him. He was dead on the spot,” his brother Murad, 35, told NBC News on Wednesday in the living room of their neat hillside home in the occupied West Bank. In one corner, his brother’s clothes are laid out into a shrine, still caked in blood from his fatal shooting on Oct. 13. Eisa, 27, was a trained engineer, and the memorial is dotted with artifacts from his life: a well-used laptop, three copies of the Quran and the Palestinian flag he was carrying when he was shot. Eisa’s killing, near their village of Tekoa, is part of what the United Nations, human rights groups and locals say is a surge of violence by extremist Israeli settlers and security forces against Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7. While international attention has been focused on Hamas’ terror attack and Israel’s aerial and ground assault of Gaza, watchdogs say the killings here have been encouraged and even aided by Israel’s security forces and hard-right government — which has openly armed the settlers with rifles and military gear while whipping up anti-Palestinian rhetoric.”
ABC: After Israel-Hamas War, The Palestinians Must Have New Political Future, US Official Says
“The U.S. believes the Middle East cannot return to the status quo and must agree on a new future for the Palestinians in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, which led Israel to launch a war in the region, a top White House official said on Sunday. "What I think we believe in strongly is that Gaza cannot and should not be allowed to be a platform from which horrific terrorist attacks can be conducted against Israel," Biden deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said in an interview with ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos, referring to the Palestinian territory Hamas controls. "And so to the extent that they are seeking to make that no longer possible, that is both a very legitimate and, we believe, an achievable goal," Finer added. "Beyond that, what comes on the day after [fighting ends], I think we've also started to speak to: We cannot go back to a pre-Oct. 7 environment in Gaza where [terrorists] can threaten Israel in that way," Finer said. That applies both to supporting Israel in its current military operations and supporting a political future for the Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank next to Israel, Finer said. "That means resuming the urgent work of giving a political horizon to the Palestinian people, which to President [Joe] Biden means a two-state solution," Finer told Stephanopoulos.”
Mali
Reuters: UN Retreat From Mali In Disarray As Violence Surges
“Before United Nations peacekeepers hurriedly abandoned their base in Kidal in northern Mali on Tuesday, they made a costly call: with insurgents stationed nearby, they destroyed sensitive equipment to avoid it falling into the wrong hands, the U.N. said. Shortly after the last U.N. convoy rolled out, the ethnic Tuareg rebels announced they had taken over the base. Photos posted on social media on Wednesday appeared to show locals loading trucks with looted goods, including tyres, cables and chairs. Mali's ruling military junta in June ordered the decade-old UN mission, known as MINUSMA, to leave as its relations soured with former international allies. MINUSMA has accelerated its departure in recent weeks as northern Mali has been engulfed in fighting between the rebels and government forces vying for control over areas it vacates. Chaos has ensued. Bloody confrontations have surrounded at least two U.N. bases, and two have also been looted, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the withdrawal. At least a dozen peacekeepers have been injured by explosive devices hit by U.N. convoys heading south, according to U.N. statements.”
United Kingdom
The Guardian: Revealed: Plan To Brand Anyone ‘Undermining’ UK As Extremist
“Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer. The new definition, prepared by civil servants working for cabinet minister Michael Gove, is fiercely opposed by a cohort of officials who fear legitimate groups and individuals will be branded extremists. The proposals have provoked a furious response from civil rights groups with some warning it risks “criminalising dissent”, and would significantly suppress freedom of expression. One Whitehall official said: “The concern is that this is a crackdown on freedom of speech. The definition is too broad and will capture legitimate organisations and individuals.” Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities started a review of non-violent extremism in spring this year. A national cohesion and counter-extremism plan with the new definition is expected to be launched shortly. Internal departmental documents marked “official – sensitive” say the proposed definition could “frame a new, unified response to extremism”.”
Reuters: Two Women Charged With UK Terrorism Offences After Pro-Palestinian Protest
“Two women have been charged with terrorism offences after allegedly displaying pro-Hamas imagery at a London demonstration, police said on Friday, as they warned about possible radicalisation as a result of the Israel-Gaza conflict. There have been growing tensions in Britain and elsewhere since a deadly Hamas attack on Israel last month and Israel's retaliation on Gaza, with tens of thousands of protesters taking part in pro-Palestinian marches demanding the British government call for a ceasefire. The women allegedly wore stickers with images of paragliders at a protest in London Oct. 14. They were charged under the Terrorism Act and are due to appear at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court Nov. 10. Some Hamas fighters used paragliders in the attack on Israel and Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Britain. The Crown Prosecution Service said the images "aroused reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas." Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said the public is concerned about "some people using the veil of legitimate protest to carry out criminal or even terrorist activity."”
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