Eye on Extremism

December 8, 2023 

The New York Times: Israel Says It Detained Hundreds Of Terrorism Suspects In Gaza

“The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had apprehended hundreds of people suspected of terrorism, including wanted Hamas operatives, across the Gaza Strip in a single day, and that many had surrendered and been transferred to Israel for further questioning. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said in a televised briefing that many of the suspects under interrogation by the military and the Shin Bet domestic security agency had turned themselves over to the Israeli forces. “The intelligence we gather from the questioning aids us in the continued fight,” he said. The announcements of the surrenders and arrests came soon after photographs and videos surfaced on social media appearing to show rows of men stripped to their underwear, sitting or kneeling on the ground, with some bound and blindfolded. The New York Times has not verified the images or the video. Admiral Hagari did not answer directly when asked about the images, but reiterated the Israeli military’s goal of finding and capturing Hamas operatives. “They hide under the ground and come out and we battle them,” Admiral Hagari said. Some, he added, “come out of tunnel shafts and others out of houses. We question and investigate who among them is connected to Hamas and who is not. We detain all of them and interrogate them.””

Reuters: US Embassy In Baghdad Attacked With Rockets, No Casualties

“The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was attacked with two salvos of rockets on Friday morning but there were no casualties, an embassy spokesperson said. The attack was believed to have been carried out by Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, the spokesperson said. No group immediately claimed responsibility. It was the first reported rocket attack against the embassy since an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Shi'ite Muslim militias initiated attacks against U.S. forces on military bases in Iraq and neighbouring Syria in mid-October. The armed groups, operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have linked more than 70 such attacks to Washington's backing of Israel in its devastating assault on Gaza. "We again call on the Government of Iraq, as we have done on many occasions, to do all in its power to protect diplomatic and Coalition partner personnel and facilities," the embassy spokesperson said. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani directed security agencies to pursue the perpetrators, describing them as "unruly, lawless groups that do not in any way represent the will of the Iraqi people," a statement from his office said. He also said that undermining Iraq's stability, reputation and targeting places Iraq has committed to protect were acts of terrorism.”

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• Help Keep Watch Over Extremist Content Online 
• CEP Calls On Doha Forum Speakers To Call Out Qatari Hosts
• Extremist Content Online: Pro-ISIS Supporters Celebrate Paris Attack Suspect 
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• Help Support CEP's Work To Hold Qatar Accountable For Harboring Terrorist Leaders 

CEP Mentions

Outlook India: Will Turn Beirut Into Gaza If Hezbollah Opens 2nd Front In War: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

“... Hezbollah, just like Hamas, is backed by Israel's arch-rival Iran and is committed to the destruction of Israel. The think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) says, "In February 1985, Hezbollah formally emerged and issued its manifesto. Hezbollah pledged loyalty to Khomeini [Iran's Supreme Leader], demanded the expulsion of foreign forces (i.e., Israel, France, and the U.S.) from Lebanon, called for Israel's destruction, and called for the creation of an Islamic state in Lebanon. As an Iranian proxy, Hezbollah's perceived threat environment is almost identical to Iran’s—Tehran’s enemies are Hezbollah’s enemies. Like Iran, Hezbollah considers the U.S. and Israel to be its chief foes." Israel and Hezbollah last fought a war in 2006 after Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers who were later found to be killed. Israel mounted a failed rescue operation and also bombed targets associated with Hezbollah in the ensuing war, including in and around Lebanon's capital Beirut. More than 120 Israeli soldiers and over 1,000 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the war. “

United States

Fox News: White House Dodges Reporter's Question On Biden Removing Terrorist Designation From Iran Proxy Group

“National Security Council spokesman John Kirby evaded a reporter's question on Thursday when asked about President Biden's decision to unlist Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen as a terrorist group. During the daily White House press briefing, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich asked Kirby whether Biden holds any "regret" for delisting the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, and whether the administration is reconsidering the move.  "I've already said that we are going to review that decision. We are," Kirby replied, although he gave no time frame for the review. "I don't have a date certain for you or any outcome to brief, Jacqui, but we said we're already gonna take a look and review that decision," he added. Several of the president's Republican critics in Congress have urged the Biden administration to consider reclassifying the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). The Trump administration applied the designation to the group as one of its final acts, but Biden reversed that decision as one of its first acts upon taking office. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the time argued that the administration removed the designation over concerns that it might have "a devastating impact on Yemenis’ access to basic commodities like food and fuel."”

Bloomberg: US Won’t Rule Out Military Action Against Houthis, Official Says

“A top White House official said the US won’t rule out the possibility of strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which have been blamed for targeting commercial ships, while it focuses now on sanctions and security at sea “We have certainly not ruled out the possibility of taking military action — we reserve that right,” Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told the Aspen Security Forum in Washington on Thursday. For the time being, the US will focus on “a maritime coalition to provide reassurance and security for commercial sea lanes,” he said. “And if there is a decision to escalate against us, we will look at other options,” Finer said. Finer was speaking in response to questions about increased tension in the Red Sea, where a US warship, the USS Carney, responded to distress calls from three ships that had allegedly been targeted by the Houthis. The US says the Houthis have been enabled by Iran and pose a threat to international commerce and security at sea. “The Houthis would not be able to do this without the support of Iran,” Finer said. “Would not be able to do it. Would not have the weaponry, would not have the intelligence, would not have the motivation to do this were it not for the role of the IRGC,” he said, using the acronym for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

Lebanon

Reuters: Hezbollah Missile From Lebanon Kills Israeli Civilian -Military

“A guided-missile attack from Lebanon killed an Israeli civilian in northern Israel on Thursday, Israel's military spokesperson said and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Beirut would be turned "into Gaza" if Hezbollah started an all-out war. The Israeli military said Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah fighters carried out the anti-tank attack. Hezbollah said that one of the 11 attacks it carried out on Thursday targeted an Israeli barracks in Matat, a village abutting the Lebanese border. Israeli jets struck at a Hezbollah command and control center in response, the military said. "If Hezbollah chooses to start an all-out war then it will by its own hand turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis," Netanyahu said while visiting troops near the border. It was not immediately clear whether Netanyahu was speaking to the soldiers when the civilian was killed or whether he was anywhere near where the missile struck. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Israel's public broadcaster Kan said the man killed was a farmer. Israel's ambulance service said he was 60 years old. Hezbollah announced numerous attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday that it said were in support of Palestinians in Gaza.”

Middle East

Reuters: Hundreds More Palestinians Killed In Israel's Assault On Hamas In South Gaza

“Hundreds more Palestinians were killed as Israel fought Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip's biggest cities on Thursday, and almost 2 million displaced Gazans facing shortages of food struggled to find safe refuge. Residents reported fierce battles going on east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza's largest city. Palestinian health officials said three Gazans were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza. Israel said its forces killed a number of gunmen in Khan Younis, including two who emerged firing from a tunnel. Israeli TV showed footage, which Reuters could not independently verify, of what it said were captured Hamas fighters, stripped to their underwear with heads bowed sitting in a Gaza City street. Some Palestinians recognised relatives and denied they had any links to Hamas or any other group. Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian American based in Virginia, saw relatives in the picture and told Reuters they were "innocent civilians with no links to Hamas or any other faction." "They took them from a house, that belongs to the family, in the area of the market. They detained my brother Mahmoud, 32, his son Omar, 13, my other nephew Aboud, 27, and my father 72, and several of our in-laws." Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said soldiers were fighting against militants in Hamas "centers of gravity."”

The New York Times: Israel Says 5 Hamas Military Leaders Have Been Killed

“The Israeli military has released a photo of 11 senior Hamas military leaders gathered in a tunnel beneath Gaza and said that five of them had been killed. Among those in the annotated photo the army said it had eliminated were the head of Hamas’s aerial division, two battalion commanders, a brigade commander and a deputy brigade commander. The rare photo of the Hamas leaders released on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, was taken while the group hid in a tunnel underneath a residential neighborhood near the Indonesian hospital in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahia. An Israeli intelligence unit analyzed the picture after it was seized in Gaza but did not reveal who took it.  Some of the photograph’s details, including its exact date and location, could not be independently verified.Israeli forces have targeted the Hamas leadership since the group launched an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, the deadliest day in Israeli history. Since then, Israel has declared war on Hamas with the intent of destroying the organization. It has placed Gaza, which the group has controlled since 2007, under siege, cutting civilians off from regular supplies of food and fuel, and subjected the strip to a deadly bombing campaign. “Hamas wanted to tear us apart; we are tearing it apart,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, after meeting with the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu’s government is under pressure over whether to continue to pummel Hamas or broker another truce that would allow for more exchanges.”

Bloomberg: Netanyahu Threatens To Devastate Beirut If Hezbollah Enters War

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened devastation in Beirut and southern Lebanon if Hezbollah opens a second front in Israel’s war with Hamas. “If Hezbollah decides to open an all-out war, then with its own hands it will turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, which are not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Yunis,” Netanyahu said. President Joe Biden, who has made a priority of containing the Israel-Hamas conflict, spoke to both Netanyahu and King Abdullah II of Jordan regarding “the latest developments in Gaza,” the White House said on Thursday. Netanyahu delivered the warning during a visit to the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces’ northern command, which oversees units that have traded fire with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon in the weeks since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7. He praised military reservists’ “great spirit in their readiness for battle.” His threat referred to the widespread destruction that Israel’s military has unleashed in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation to the attack by Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by the US and the European Union. Israel has now turned its focus to the south of Gaza, with troops reportedly entering Khan Yunis.”

United Kingdom

BBC: Nottingham: Boy, 15, Charged With Terror Offences Linked To IS

“Counter Terrorism Policing North East (CTPNE) said the boy, from Nottingham, had been charged with six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications. He is also charged with one count of support for a proscribed organisation. CTPNE said the boy had been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday. It added the teenager, who has not been named due to his age, was arrested in June as part of a pre-planned, intelligence-led, investigation into suspicious activity online in relation to IS.”

France

Associated Press: Six French Teens Await A Verdict Over Their Alleged Roles In Islamic Extremist Killing Of A Teacher

“A French juvenile court is handing down a verdict Friday for six teenagers accused of involvement in the killing of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an Islamic extremist after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a debate on freedom of expression. Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker, Abdoullakh Anzorov, was then shot dead by police. Paty’s name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed prophet caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The publication had triggered a deadly extremist massacre in the Charlie Hebdo newsroom in 2015. All those on trial were students at Paty’s school. If convicted, they face up to two-and-a-half years in prison.Five of the defendants, who were 14 or 15 at the time of the attack, are accused of staking Paty out until he left school that day and identifying him for the attacker in exchange for promises of 300-350 euros ($350-400). Investigators found that the attacker wanted to target Paty but didn’t have the means to identify him. The five are facing charges of criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence.”

Southeast Asia

Reuters: ASEAN Strongly Condemns Sunday's 'Heinous Terrorist Attack' In Philippines

“The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN on Friday strongly condemned what it called a "heinous terrorist attack" in the southern Philippines at the weekend in which four people were killed in a bombing at a Catholic Mass. The bomb went off on Sunday during a service at a university gymnasium in Marawi, a city left in ruins in 2017 by a five-month military campaign to end an occupation by Islamic State loyalists that triggered alarm in Asia about the group's influence. "We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families," the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a statement. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said "foreign terrorists" were behind it and police said they were investigating the incident and validating the claim by the Islamic State group. Police had identified as suspects two members of Daulah-Islamiyah Maute, a local group involved in the 2017 seizure of Marawi alongside fighters from Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond. The Philippine military on Friday announced the Dec. 6 arrest in Marawi of a man suspected of placing the bomb in the gymnasium having been being identified by witnesses.”

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