Eye on Extremism

November 21, 2023 

Associated Press: Israel Battles Hamas Near Another Gaza Hospital Sheltering Thousands 

“Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where despite the fighting health officials managed to evacuate some of the wounded. A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4 hectare) compound. The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago. Gaza’s hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the war’s brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure.” 

CBS: Escalating Violence In Gaza Increasing Chatter Of Possible Terror Attack In New York, Intelligence Report Says 

“CBS News learned Monday of increased threats of a possible terror attack in New York City as a direct result of the escalating violence in the Middle East. Gov. Kathy Hochul is already taking action to beef up security and increase staffing of the Joint Terrorism Task Force following a new threat assessment by the New York State Intelligence Center that violence in Gaza is driving chatter about targets in New York.  "I am working hard at the state level with the control I have. I'll be talking about this tomorrow, about exactly what we're doing, and how many online threats we've uncovered, how many have been investigated, what the outcome is," said Hochul.  The governor spoke about new steps she'll be taking to deal with online threats and radicalization, even as CBS News obtained a new threat assessment which points to "an increasing terror threat to NYS."  The intelligence center warned that the spread of antisemitic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on social media is fueling an increase in hate crimes targeting Jews, Muslims and Arabs.  "The expansion of Israeli operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and increase in civilian casualties raises the likelihood that violent extremist threat actors will seek to conduct attacks against targets in the West, with New York State being a focus. Terrorist messaging has placed focus on attacking 'soft targets' such as protests, group gatherings, and other public events," the report said.” 

CEP Mentions 

Focus On Western Islamism: Jewish Security Chiefs Endorse Qatar? 

“…A recent press release from Counter Extremism Project (CEP) CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace and CEP president Frances F. Townsend calls on “all lobbying and public relations firms to cease working with or representing the Government of Qatar until it detains the Hamas leadership responsible for the October 7 massacre in Israel and remands them into U.S., Israeli, or appropriate third party-custody.””

Syria 

Task and Purpose: US Missions Against ISIS Up In Iraq And Syria, Body Count Down 

U.S. troops and partner forces have conducted 387 operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria so far in 2023, far more than they did in all of 2022, according to U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM. But while the tempo of operations is up, far fewer suspected ISIS fighters have been killed during those missions than last year. Through October, CENTCOM says U.S. and partner forces have killed 101 suspected fighters in these operations – 78 were killed in Iraq and 23 in Syria. By comparison, U.S. troops and partner forces killed at least 686 suspected ISIS fighters in 2022 – 220 in Iraq, 466 in Syria. While fewer ISIS fighters have been killed this year in Iraq and Syria, U.S. troops and partner forces have captured more suspected ISIS operatives than in 2022, according to CENTCOM. 

Yemen 

Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Release Video Footage Showing Armed Men Seizing 'Israeli-Linked Ship' 

“Yemen's Houthis released video footage on Monday showing armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. The footage was released by the movement's TV channel Al Masirah a day after the ship was hijacked by the Iran-backed group, who said the ship was linked to Israel. Israel, however, says the seized ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated.” 

Lebanon 

Reuters: Two Reporters, Third Person Killed In Rocket Strike Near Lebanon-Israel Border - State Media 

“Two journalists working for a Lebanon-based TV channel and a third person were killed by a rocket strike near Lebanon's border with Israel on Tuesday, the Lebanese state news agency reported The agency said the incident took place near the town of Tir Harfa, about a mile from the Israeli frontier. Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV, which the two killed reporters were working for, said Israel had carried out the attack and deliberately targeted the journalists. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah broke out after Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The border violence has escalated, raising Western fears of a widening war in the Middle East that could draw in both the United States and Iran. It is the worst violence at the border since Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006 and has so far killed more than 70 Hezbollah fighters, 13 Lebanese civilians, seven Israeli troops and three Israeli civilians.” 

Middle East 

Bloomberg: Hamas Says Gaza Hostage Talks Progress, Could Yield ‘Truce’ 

“Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said his group is close to reaching a “truce agreement” in talks with Qatar and Israel, rare public comments that suggest discussions over freeing some hostages held by the militant group are progressing. “The movement delivered its response to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement,” Haniyeh said in a statement on Telegram. His comments come after US President Joe Biden said Monday that Israel and Hamas are closing in on a deal to free a group of hostages taken when the group stormed Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people. “I believe so,” Biden said when asked if a deal was near. He added that he wasn’t prepared to offer details. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, has agreed in principle for more than 50 women and children to be released, Axios reported earlier. In return, Israel would pause its military attacks for a specified time each day and release some Palestinians in Israeli jails. Qatar, which hosts some of Hamas’s political leaders, is helping broker the talks between the group, a designated terrorist organization by the US and European Union, and Israel.” 

Associated Press: Israeli Troops Battle Militants Across North Gaza, Which Has Been Without Power Or Water For Weeks 

“Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp and outside a nearby hospital Tuesday as the army expanded operations across northern Gaza, where residents have been without electricity or reliable access to water, food or other basics for weeks. The front line of the war, now in its seventh week, shifted to the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses families displaced in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israel has bombarded the area for weeks, and the military said Hamas fighters have regrouped there and in other eastern districts after being pushed out of much of Gaza City. Fighting has also intensified outside the nearby Indonesian Hospital, where Palestinian health officials said a strike killed 12 people Monday. They said Tuesday that hundreds of patients and displaced people are trapped inside with dwindling supplies after some 200 were evacuated the day before. Senior Hamas officials, meanwhile, said they were close to reaching a deal through international mediators to release some of the estimated 240 people taken hostage by the group in its Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war. But the talks have repeatedly stalled and past predictions of a breakthrough have proven premature.” 

Associated Press: With The World’s Eyes On Gaza, Attacks Are On The Rise In The West Bank, Which Faces Its Own War 

“When Israeli warplanes swooped over the Gaza Strip following Hamas militants’ deadly attack on southern Israel, Palestinians say a different kind of war took hold in the occupied West Bank. Overnight, the territory was closed off. Towns were raided, curfews imposed, teenagers arrested, detainees beaten, and villages stormed by Jewish vigilantes. With the world’s attention on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, the violence of war has also erupted in the West Bank. Israeli settler attacks have surged at an unprecedented rate, according to the United Nations. The escalation has spread fear, deepened despair, and robbed Palestinians of their livelihoods, their homes and, in some cases, their lives. “Our lives are hell,” said Sabri Boum, a 52-year-old farmer who fortified his windows with metal grills last week to protect his children from settlers he said threw stun grenades in Qaryout, a northern village. “It’s like I’m in a prison.” In six weeks, settlers have killed nine Palestinians, said Palestinian health authorities. They’ve destroyed 3,000-plus olive trees during the crucial harvest season, said Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas, wiping out what for some were inheritances passed through generations. And they’ve harassed herding communities, forcing over 900 people to abandon 15 hamlets they long called home, the U.N. said.” 

Germany 

Reuters: Germany Arrests Suspected Antisemite Who Threatened Killings -Police 

“German police have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of planning violence endangering the state after he threatened to kill people in online posts and posted right-wing extremist and antisemitic content, officials said on Monday. Police in the western state of Hesse searched the apartment of the suspect last Wednesday and seized computers, arms and ammunition, the State Office of Criminal Investigation and the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt said in a statement. The suspect had repeatedly published posts online in which he threatened to kill people for political reasons, it said. Several months of investigation had revealed the suspect's "consolidated violent, anti-Semitic and right-wing extremist attitude" according to the Hesse state authorities. Germany has stepped up vigilance for any indication of antisemitic violence in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by militants from Gaza's ruling Islamist group Hamas. Since the deadly incursion, followed by Israel's devastating siege and invasion of Gaza, Germany has witnessed a series of protests in support of Gaza's Palestinians, at some of which antisemitic slogans were heard, as well as Israel.” 

Technology 

ABC: 'Really Worried': Meta Decision Allowing 2020 Election-Denial Ads Risks Distrust, Extremism, Experts Say 

“Less than a year out from the next presidential election, former President Donald Trump and some Republican allies continue to falsely deny the results of the previous one. Three in 10 adults believe that President Joe Biden only won the 2020 contest because of election fraud, a Monmouth poll in June found. More than two-thirds of Republicans espouse the debunked claim, the survey showed. Despite the persistence of such falsehoods, political advertisements featuring incorrect assertions about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 contest will be permitted on Instagram and Facebook, a Meta content policy show Meta, the parent company that controls the platforms, made a policy change allowing political advertisers to say past elections were fraudulently conducted but prohibiting ads that question the validity of future or ongoing elections, the policy says. The Wall Street Journal first reported the policy change. The move raises concerns about the spread of false election-denial ads on Instagram and Facebook that could erode the public's trust in U.S. democracy, some researchers who examine misinformation and disinformation told ABC News, noting that election-denial ads could also help fuel violent extremism like that on Jan. 6, 2021.”

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