“The European Union on Sunday condemned Hamas for using "hospitals and
civilians as human shields" in Gaza, while also urging Israel to show "maximum
restraint" to protect civilians. Hospitals in the north of the Palestinian
enclave are blockaded by Israeli forces and barely able to care for those
inside, according to medical staff. Gaza's largest and second largest
hospitals, Al Shifa and Al-Quds, said they were suspending operations. Israel
says Hamas has placed command centres under and near hospitals and it needs to
get at them to free around 200 hostages the militants took in Israel in an
attack just over a month ago. Hamas has denied using hospitals in this way.
"The EU condemns the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas,"
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement issued on
behalf of the 27-nation bloc. "Civilians must be allowed to leave the combat
zone." At the same time, he urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint,
stressing the obligation under international humanitarian law to protect
hospitals, medical supplies and civilians inside hospitals. "These hostilities
are severely impacting hospitals and taking a horrific toll on civilians and
medical staff," Borrell warned.”











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Eye on Extremism



November 13, 2023





Reuters: EU Condemns Hamas For Using 'Hospitals As Human Shields', Urges
Israeli Restraint
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“The European Union on Sunday condemned Hamas for using "hospitals and
civilians as human shields" in Gaza, while also urging Israel to show "maximum
restraint" to protect civilians. Hospitals in the north of the Palestinian
enclave are blockaded by Israeli forces and barely able to care for those
inside, according to medical staff. Gaza's largest and second largest
hospitals, Al Shifa and Al-Quds, said they were suspending operations. Israel
says Hamas has placed command centres under and near hospitals and it needs to
get at them to free around 200 hostages the militants took in Israel in an
attack just over a month ago. Hamas has denied using hospitals in this way.
"The EU condemns the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields by Hamas,"
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement issued on
behalf of the 27-nation bloc. "Civilians must be allowed to leave the combat
zone." At the same time, he urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint,
stressing the obligation under international humanitarian law to protect
hospitals, medical supplies and civilians inside hospitals. "These hostilities
are severely impacting hospitals and taking a horrific toll on civilians and
medical staff," Borrell warned.”



Associated Press: Hezbollah Says It Is Introducing New Weapons In Ongoing
Battles With Israeli Troops
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“Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and
10 other people, Israel’s military and rescue services said. The clashes came
as skirmishes between the Iran-backed group and Israeli military continue to
intensify along the Lebanon-Israel border, threatening to escalate into another
front in the Mideast’s latest war. The assault was the most serious incident
involving civilians along the Lebanon-Israel border since an Israeli airstrike
in south Lebanon on Nov. 5 killed a woman and three children. The Israeli
army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the Hezbollah attack on
Israeli civilians was “very serious.” He said Israel is focused on its war in
Gaza but it also remains at a “very high level of preparedness in the north”
and ready to take further action. The Israeli military “has operational plans
to change the security status in the north,” he told reporters. “The security
status will not remain such that the civilians of the north do not feel safe
returning to their homes.” The Israeli military said in a statement that “seven
IDF soldiers were lightly injured as a result of the mortar shell launches in
the area of Manara in northern Israel earlier today.” Israeli rescue services
did not identify the location or provide information about the 10 others
wounded by rocket blasts and shrapnel, but said two of them were in critical
condition.”




CEP Expert Analysis

* The Houthis And U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
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* The Houthis’ Use of Technology for Repression
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* CEP Calls For Account Freeze On Qatari Assets In The UK
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* The Houthis and U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
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* Afghanistan Terorism Report: July 2023
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CEP Mentions



WTOP: Crossroads Of A Crisis: The Storm No One Saw Coming
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““It was a military invasion by a terrorist group and then a terrorist
operation slaughtering civilians,” said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director
with the Counter Extremism Project.Ultimately, more than 1,400 Israelis and
others were butchered. More than 3,000 people were injured and more than 200
people — ranging in age from small children to 85 years old — were kidnapped.
“The scenes were horrible. You wouldn’t even believe seeing the evidence,” said
Aviva Raz Schechter, a senior ambassador in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. She said the images of “children with their hands tied, being burned,
heads been chopped off” are impossible to get out of their heads. That
massacre, which took the world’s breath away and it’s eyes off Ukraine, also
threatened Ukraine’s financial support. In the coming days, after Israel
responded, thousands of Palestinians inside Gaza were killed in airstrikes and
a ground invasion. “There are lots of things going on around the world that we
have to address, and we will,” said newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson
(R-LA), but he added, “right now what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate
attention.””



United States



NBC: Biden Struggles To Quell Backlash In Party Over Israel’s Response To Hamas

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“When Joe Biden came of age, he saw Israel as a besieged state that was a
haven for a persecuted Jewish minority, a worldview that stayed with him
through his 36 years in the Senate and his rise to the presidency. Biden often
recalls in public speeches what former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir told
him 50 years ago: “We have nowhere else to go.” Today, a faction of Biden’s
party sees Israel very differently: as a military colossus run by far-right
officials who’ve suppressed Palestinians and denied them basic freedoms. These
dueling perceptions are the root of a fresh foreign policy crisis that is
tearing at Biden’s political coalition and putting him in the awkward spot of
reining in a Jewish state he has long revered. The diplomatic challenge would
bedevil any president. But it may be even more excruciating for Biden, who took
his children to view the Nazi death camps and who calls himself a “Zionist in
my heart.” As Israeli leaders’ most important partner, Biden finds himself
needing to help them defeat Hamas while limiting civilian bloodshed in crowded
cities where the militants operate. He must reassure an anxious Jewish
population without alienating Arab and Muslim Americans who argue that his
nostalgia for Israel is outdated.”



Associated Press: Blinken Says ‘Far Too Many’ Palestinians Have Died As Israel
Wages Relentless War On Hamas
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“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “far too many”
Palestinians have died and suffered as Israel wages a relentless war against
the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. He urged Israel to minimize harm to
civilians and maximize humanitarian assistance that reaches them. Speaking to
reporters in New Delhi, Blinken said recent Israeli moves to improve dire
conditions in Gaza as its military pushes deeper into the strip — including
pauses in military operations to allow Palestinians to move from northern to
southern Gaza and the creation of a second safe corridor — are positive but
they are not nearly enough. “Much more needs to be done to protect civilians
and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” he said. “Far too
many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past
weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to
maximize the assistance that gets to them.” Blinken spoke as he wrapped up an
intense nine-day diplomatic tour of the Middle East and Asia — his second
frenetic Mideast trip since the war began with Hamas’ deadly incursion into
southern Israel on Oct. 7. In Hamas-run Gaza, the Health Ministry said Friday
that the Palestinian death in the coastal strip toll has surpassed 11,000
people. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mainly in the
initial Hamas attack.”



Syria



Reuters: US Carries Out Air Strikes In Syria Against Iran-Linked Facilities
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“The United States carried out two air strikes in Syria against Iran and its
aligned groups on Sunday, the Pentagon said, in the latest response to a series
of attacks against American forces in Syria and in Iraq. In a statement, U.S.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the strikes targeted a training facility
near the city of Albu Kamal and a safe house near the city of Mayadeen. He said
President Joe Biden ordered the strikes. "The President has no higher priority
than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today's action to make clear
that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,"
Austin said in a statement. Local sources also said the strikes targeted a camp
run by pro-Iranian militias in an area west of Albu Kamal, in Deir al Zor
province. The other strike was near a bridge close to the city of Mayadeen,
near the Iraqi border and stronghold of pro-Iranian militias, the sources said.
The strike is the third since Oct. 26 as the United States attempts to quell
wave after wave of drone and rocket attacks against American troops in Syria
and Iraq, triggered by the Israel-Hamas war. Iran and its supporters say the
United States shares responsibility for Israel's declared war against
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Hezbollah Says Front With Israel Will Remain Active
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“The head of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah party said on Saturday that its
armed wing had used new types of weapons and struck new targets in Israel, and
pledged that the front against its sworn enemy would remain active. It was
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's second speech since the war between Israel and Hamas
began in October. In his first, he said there was a possibility of fighting on
the Lebanese front turning into a fully-fledged war. On Saturday, in a
televised address, he said Hezbollah had shown "a quantitative improvement in
the number of operations, the size and the number of targets, as well as an
increase in the type of weapons". He said it had used a "Burkan" missile that
carries an explosive payload of 300-500 kg, as well as weaponised drones for
the first time. Nasrallah said the group had also struck the northern Israeli
town of Kiryat Shmona for the first time in retaliation for an Israeli air
strike that killed three girls and their grandmother this month. "This front
will remain active," he pledged. Soon after, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav
Gallant told troops near the Israel-Lebanon border: "Hezbollah is dragging
Lebanon into a war that might happen. "It is making mistakes and ... those who
will pay the price are first and foremost Lebanon's citizens. What we are doing
in Gaza we can do in Beirut."



Middle East



ABC: 9 Americans Still Missing After Hamas Attack As Hostage Negotiations
Continue: Sullivan
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“The U.S. remains committed to "ongoing negotiations" for the release of
hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza as officials work to find nine
Americans still missing in the wake of the extremist group's Oct. 7 terror
attack on Israel, the White House's national security adviser said on Sunday.
"There are ongoing negotiations involving the Israelis, the Qataris, and we,
the United States, are actively engaged in this as well because we want to make
sure that we bring home those Americans who have been taken hostage as well as
all of the other hostages," Jake Sullivan told ABC "This Week" co-anchor
Jonathan Karl. Pressed by Karl on the total number of hostages, Sullivan said
America doesn't have a "precise number." "We know the number of missing and
that's the number the Israelis have given. But we don't know how many of those
are still alive," Sullivan said. "As far as the Americans are concerned, there
are nine missing American citizens as well as a missing legal permanent
[resident], a green card holder." Sullivan continued: "That's the number that
we are trying to ensure the safe return of, and we have been engaging with the
families. In fact, I will personally be seeing family members of the American
hostages this coming week."”



Business Insider: The IDF Says Its 401st Brigade 'Eliminated' 150 Hamas
Militants In Northern Gaza Battle
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“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that its 401st Brigade had "gained
control" of key Hamas posts in northern Gaza and "eliminated" around 150
militants. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the IDF said that the brigade's
targets had included "an arms production site, launching stations," and "an
underground network." The IDF said in a press release that the 401st Brigade
"also operated at the Blue Beach Hotel on the coastline in the northern Gaza
Strip," from which around 30 Hamas militants had "fired several anti-tank
missiles at IDF forces." It claimed that the militants "used the hotel rooms as
shelter and for the benefit of planning attacks above and below ground." It
added that its forces had taken control of 11 military posts belonging to Hamas
since it began its ground offensive. Israel's naval forces also struck Hamas
infrastructure targets in northern Gaza, including in the al-Shati refugee
camp, the IDF said in an update. As the conflict continues to rage around Gaza,
the city's largest hospital ran out of power, putting dozens of patients at
risk. The Gazan health ministry said a newborn baby had died as a result of the
power outage. Civilians are continuing to flee northern Gaza to avoid being
caught in the carnage, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that
"we will not have a ceasefire without the hostages back home."”



Associated Press: Thousands Who Were Sheltering At Gaza City’s Hospitals Flee
As Israel-Hamas War Closes In
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“Thousands of Palestinians sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war at Gaza
City’s main hospital fled south Friday after several reported strikes in and
around the compound overnight. They joined a growing exodus of people escaping
intense urban fighting in the north — including near other hospitals — as Gaza
officials said the territory’s death toll surpassed 11,000. The search for
safety across the besieged Gaza Strip has grown desperate as Israel intensified
its assault on the territory’s largest city. The Israeli army says Hamas’
military infrastructure is based amid Gaza City’s hospitals and neighborhoods,
and that it has set up its main command center in and under the largest
hospital, Shifa — claims the militant group and Shifa staff deny. Israel has
vowed to destroy Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 surprise incursion, which killed
at least 1,200. More than 100,000 Palestinians have fled south over the past
two days, according to Israel, but they still face bombardment and dire
conditions. Reported strikes on or near at least four hospitals in northern
Gaza overnight underscored the danger for tens of thousands more who had
crowded into the facilities, believing they would be safe. Early Friday, at
least three strikes over several hours hit the courtyard and the obstetrics
department of Shifa Hospital, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson at the
Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.”



Mali



BBC: Translators For German UN Troops In Mali Fear Taliban-Style Fate
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“The 19 interpreters wrote to the German government on 7 August asking for
protection as the jihadist groups that operate in northern Mali regard those
who work with the UN as traitors. "The terrorists have been openly saying that
any person working for international forces is considered an enemy," a
translator for the UN's German military contingent, whose name has been
withheld for safety reasons, told the BBC. A few weeks after the translators
sent their letter, photos appeared online of their friend Hachimi Dicko being
killed by gunmen from the Islamic State (IS) group. The 32-year-old Malian had
worked for a sub-contractor at Camp Castor, the base that is operated by German
UN soldiers in Gao, northern Mali's most populous city. All the translators
knew Mr Dicko well. He had been a laundry supervisor at the camp, working for
Ecolog - although a source close to his family says when he was captured by IS
gunmen in June his contract had come to an end. He had started a job as a
clothing courier and had been travelling on a lorry from Niamey, the capital of
neighbouring Niger, to Gao when it was ambushed. Those travelling with him say
he was singled out by the gunmen because of the military-style boots he was
wearing. They initially demanded a ransom. The lorry driver got in contact with
the family at the militants' request.”



United Kingdom



Reuters: Three Pro-Palestinian Protesters Deny Committing Terrorism Offences
At London Rally
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“Three protesters appeared in a British court on Friday and pleaded not
guilty to terrorism offences after displaying allegedly pro-Hamas imagery at a
London demonstration. Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu
Olayinka Taiwo, 27, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with
displaying an article at an Oct. 14 protest which would arouse reasonable
suspicion they supported Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation in Britain.
The trio each entered not guilty pleas to one count under the Terrorism Act and
will stand trial at the same court in February. Prosecutor Mark Luckett said
there was a "clear and unique association between the image of a paraglider",
which some Hamas fighters used in the deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and
the proscribed group. He added that displaying an item associated with the
Hamas attacks, particularly at a pro-Palestinian demonstration, "glorifies the
actions of the group by celebrating the unique, successful tactic used by
them". Their appearance in court on Friday comes ahead of a planned
pro-Palestinian demonstration on Saturday, the latest such protest in London
since the Hamas attack on Israel last month and Israel's bombardment of the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.”



Europe



Associated Press: Iranian-Born Norwegian Man Is Charged Over Deadly Oslo Pride
Attack In 2022
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“A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran was charged Friday with aggravated
terrorism for the 2022 deadly shooting ahead of an LGBTQ festival in the
nightlife district of the capital, Oslo. Two people were killed and nine
seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the
London Pub, a popular gay bar, on June 25, 2022. Prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø
said that Zaniar Matapour, 44, fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight
shots with a handgun into a crowd at a street corner in the nightlife district
where there were a total of 560 people. Before that, he took “an oath of
allegiance to the Islamic State group.” “The attack caused great fear,”
Henriksbø said. One of the victims was hit by four bullets, while the other one
was killed by a single shot. Matapour was arrested shortly after by bystanders
and has has since been held on suspicion of being the shooter. Following the
attack, a Pride parade was canceled, with the police saying they could not
guarantee security. Matapour has refused to speak to investigators. Another
prosecutor, Aud Kinsarvik Gravås, said four other suspects were linked to the
shooting but they have not been charged as the investigation is still ongoing.
Two of them are outside Norway. One of those suspected in the case is a leading
Norwegian radical Islamist who is in hiding in Pakistan. The whereabouts of the
other one was not known.”



Southeast Asia



Associated Press: Conservative Muslims Protest Coldplay’s Planned Concert In
Indonesia Over The Band’s LGBTQ+ Support
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“Dozens of conservative Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital on Friday,
calling for the cancellation of Coldplay’s upcoming concert over the British
band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community. Coldplay is renowned for interlacing
its values with its shows, such as the band’s push for environmental
sustainability. Lead singer Chris Martin has been known to wear rainbow colors
and wave gay pride flags during performances. The Asian leg of Coldplay’s
“Music Of The Spheres World Tour” includes a Nov. 15 concert at Jakarta’s
Gelora Bung Karno stadium. More than 70,000 tickets were scooped up in less
than two hours when sales opened in May. Jakarta is one of the band’s top
streaming hubs with 1.6 million fans in the city. Critics say Coldplay’s show
is suggestive, and that the band’s support for the LGBTQ+ community threatens
to undermine Indonesia’s moral fiber and corrupt its youth. Nearly 100
demonstrators, many holding banners and signs, filled a major thoroughfare in
Jakarta after Friday prayers. The protesters — organized by Islamist group the
212 Brotherhood Alumni, whose name refers to the Dec. 2, 2016 mass protests
against the polarizing Christian politician Basuki Tjahaja Purnama — chanted
“God is Great” and “We reject Coldplay” as they marched to the heavily guarded
British Embassy in Jakarta.”



The Times Of India: Pakistan: Three Police Personnel Killed In Terrorist
Attack In Tank
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“Three police personnel, including a station house officer (SHO), were killed
and five others including a deputy superintendent of police sustained injuries
after a terrorist attack on police in the Kari Shah Noor area of Pakistan's
Tank, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. The police spokesperson said that DSP Chan
Shah was leading a police party on Saturday to arrest the kidnappers of a woman
in Shah Noor village when unidentified assailants opened fire on the vehicle.
The police spokesperson said that attackers opened fire at the police after
seeing the police team, according to Dawn's report. According to a police
spokesperson, SHO Shaheed Mureed Akbar, Abdul Ali Khan, and two constables,
Wahab and Mohammad Alam were killed in the attack. He further said that five
police personnel, including DSP Chan Shah, constables Ishfaq, Wafaq and Hidayat
of Elite Force and constables Riaz and Ikram of district Tank, were injured. He
said that the injured police personnel were taken to Tank Hospital. Soon after
the ambush, a heavy contingent of police, including the Quick Response Force,
arrived at the crime site, Dawn reported. Dera Ismail Khan Regional Police
Officer Nasir Mehmood Satti said that the police and security forces started
operations against the terrorists. He said that such cowardly attacks could not
demoralise the police.”



Technology



Wired: This New Tool Aims To Keep Terrorism Content Off The Internet
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“Terrorist groups have found a home on smaller, less well-known online
platforms in recent years where they store, share, and link to content such as
violent beheading videos and recruitment propaganda. Those platforms have
struggled to deal with the problem due to a lack of resources and expertise,
but a new tool being built by a Google subsidiary in collaboration with a
terror-tracking NGO is seeking to solve that problem. Launched in Paris on
Friday, Altitude is a free tool built by Jigsaw—a unit within Google that
tracks violent extremism, misinformation, and repressive censorship—and Tech
Against Terrorism, a group that seeks to disrupt terrorists’ online activity.
The tool aims to give smaller platforms the ability to easily and efficiently
detect terrorist content on their networks and remove it. The project is also
working with the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, which is an
industry-led group founded in 2017 by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube
that hosts a shared database of image hashes—a kind of digital fingerprint—of
terrorist content.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
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