“The United States, attempting to contain the spread of Israel’s war in Gaza,
is pitching allies on expanding a multinational naval task force to address an
alarming rise in attacks on commercial vessels traveling near Yemen that have
posed a significant threat to global shipping. The White House says it’s a
“natural response” after the Houthis, a Yemeni militant group aligned with
Iran, have fired missiles and one-way drones at several ships and hijacked at
least one in recent weeks. But it remains unclear whether the United States and
its partners will be able to deter the Houthis or tamp down Israel’s demands
for forceful action. Measures such as military strikes or designating the
Houthis as terrorists could complicate efforts by the United Nations, the
United States and the others to end a disastrous civil conflict in Yemen. The
Houthi attacks have underscored broader outrage across the Middle East over
Israel’s assault on Gaza. The campaign has leveled neighborhoods, killed about
18,000 people and triggered a humanitarian disaster, prompting a wave of
retaliatory attacks on U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. On Saturday,
the Houthis declared they would target any ship that travels to Israel and does
not stop in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Ships with no ties to Israel or
that do not travel there will be permitted to pass, the group said.”











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Eye on Extremism



December 11, 2023



The Washington Post: U.S. Seeking Partners To Safeguard Ships After Red Sea
Attacks
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“The United States, attempting to contain the spread of Israel’s war in Gaza,
is pitching allies on expanding a multinational naval task force to address an
alarming rise in attacks on commercial vessels traveling near Yemen that have
posed a significant threat to global shipping. The White House says it’s a
“natural response” after the Houthis, a Yemeni militant group aligned with
Iran, have fired missiles and one-way drones at several ships and hijacked at
least one in recent weeks. But it remains unclear whether the United States and
its partners will be able to deter the Houthis or tamp down Israel’s demands
for forceful action. Measures such as military strikes or designating the
Houthis as terrorists could complicate efforts by the United Nations, the
United States and the others to end a disastrous civil conflict in Yemen. The
Houthi attacks have underscored broader outrage across the Middle East over
Israel’s assault on Gaza. The campaign has leveled neighborhoods, killed about
18,000 people and triggered a humanitarian disaster, prompting a wave of
retaliatory attacks on U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. On Saturday,
the Houthis declared they would target any ship that travels to Israel and does
not stop in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Ships with no ties to Israel or
that do not travel there will be permitted to pass, the group said.”



Reuters: Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah Vows More Attacks On US Forces
<[link removed]>



“Attacks by Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah militia against U.S. interests on Friday
are the start of "new rules of engagement," a security official from the group
said in a social media post. The Iran-aligned group, while not claiming
responsibility for a rare attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Friday,
claimed the embassy was a forward operating base for planning military
operations. The attack was condemned by the U.S. and by Iraqi Prime Minister
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who said it was an act of terrorism against a
diplomatic mission. But Kataeb Hezbollah (KH) said the facility was a base
involved in planning military operations. Those who described it as a
diplomatic mission were "subservient" and self-interested, Abu Ali al-Askari, a
security official from the group, said in a social media post. U.S. Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a Friday call with Sudani, singled out KH and
another group, Haraket Hezbollah al-Nujaba, for the recent targeting of U.S.
personnel and said the U.S. reserved its right to respond. U.S. officials have
reported more than 80 attacks against U.S. interest in Iraq and Syria since
mid-October, most claimed by an umbrella-group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias
over Washington's backing of Israel in its war in Gaza.”






CEP Expert Analysis

* The Houthis: Terrorizing Women and Journalists
<[link removed]>
* Houthis Targeting Of Religious Minorities
<[link removed]>
* The Houthis And U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
<[link removed]>
* The Houthis’ Use of Technology for Repression
<[link removed]>
* CEP Calls For Account Freeze On Qatari Assets In The UK
<[link removed]>



CEP Mentions



Seattle Times: Two Canadians Who Police Link To Neo-Nazis Face Terrorism
Charges
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“… Active Club portrays itself as consisting of combat sports groups.
Alexander Ritzmann, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project in
Berlin, said in a research paper that the Active Club’s real purpose is to
create a “standby militia” that can be activated to create violence on behalf
of neo-Nazi causes. Active Club groups try to minimize police scrutiny by
telling members to “present a friendly face to the public” and to “avoid
threatening behavior or displaying obvious Nazi symbols,” a move it hopes will
also help broaden its public appeal, Ritzmann wrote in his report, published in
September. As of last month, there were 10 Active Club chapters across Canada,
Peter Collins, a forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police and a
professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in a recent edition of a law
enforcement magazine. Canada has seen a “significant increase” in the number of
terrorism charges for people linked to far-right groups such as the Atomwaffen
Division, said Michael Nesbitt, a law professor at the University of Calgary
who studies extremism. There have been seven terrorism arrests in the country
this year, including three linked to right-wing extremism, according to his
data, while only six cases since 2000 have been associated with right-wing
extremism.”



Tagesspiegel: Daily Mirror Plushamas Fighters Are Said To Have Surrendered:
Are Gaza's Terrorists Coming Into Military Trouble?
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“…However, according to the senior director at the international Counter
Extremism Project, only some fighters have given up so far. There is probably
an understanding among them that “things will not end well for them.” Not
everyone is prepared to die as a martyr. But Schindler warns against
interpreting this too broadly as the end of Hamas. “The conflict is not yet
over. There are still enough fighters who do not surrender.””



Quillette: Aiding Terror: How Terrorists Exploit Humanitarian Organizations
<[link removed]>

“… According to the Counter Extremism Project, in some instances, this may
serve to cover up their continued patronage of known Houthi-controlled
companies, such as the private security provider Yemen Armored.”



United States



NPR: The U.S. Has Vetoed A Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution In The U.N. Security
Council
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“The United States vetoed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the
Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations Security Council on Friday. The Security
Council vote on the resolution, backed by Arab states, had 13 in favor and one
— the U.S. against, while the United Kingdom abstained. After the vote, the
U.S. deputy representative to the U.N., Robert Wood, said the resolution was
rushed and ignored U.S. diplomatic efforts to get more aid into Gaza and free
hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. "We propose
language ... that would have reinforced the life-saving diplomacy we have
undertaken since Oct. 7, increased opportunities for humanitarian aid to enter
Gaza, encourage the release of hostages and the resumption of humanitarian
pauses and laid a foundation for a durable peace," Wood said. "Unfortunately,
nearly all of our recommendations were ignored." Several foreign ministers of
Arab countries that have been pushing for a cease-fire met U.S. Secretary of
State Antony Blinken in Washington shortly after the U.S. veto. While Blinken's
aides say he wanted to talk about the future of Gaza, once Israel defeats
Hamas, Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, rejected that approach.
"Today's failure to support the call for a humanitarian cease-fire is an
endorsement of further killing of Palestinians, further violations of
international law, further commitment of war crimes," Safadi said.”



Canada



The Times New York: Two Canadians Who Police Link To Neo-Nazis Face Terrorism
Charges <[link removed]>



“Two Canadian men who the police say are affiliated with a variety of
far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist groups have been charged with terrorism
and hate crimes. In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or
R.C.M.P., said that Matthew Althorpe of the Niagara area in Ontario and
Kristoffer Nippak of the Toronto area were involved in creating extremist
manifestoes and recruiting videos. The police force, in an email, declined to
offer specifics, citing a publication ban on the case. Lawyers for the two men
could not be immediately identified. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week
in Toronto. One of the groups that the police said was affiliated with the men,
the Atomwaffen Division, was declared a terrorist organization by Canada in
2021. The group, which uses the German word for “atomic weapons” as its name,
is among the most violent of right-wing extremist groups and is linked to
several killings in the United States. The R.C.M.P. said the men also made
promotional material for Terrorgram Collective and described it as a group of
Telegram channels that share neo-fascist ideology, producing and sharing
manuals on how to carry out racially motivated violence. The channels, the
statement said, are linked to the Atomwaffen Division as well as other neo-Nazi
and far-right groups.”



Syria



Reuters: Syria Shoots Down Israeli Missiles Fired Near Damascus
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“Syria's army said its air defence shot down Israeli missiles fired at the
surroundings of the capital Damascus from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on
Sunday evening. Others missiles not intercepted caused some damage, the army
said in a statement. The Israeli army declined to comment.”



Iran



Forbes: The Iran-Backed Militia Threats The U.S. Navy Faces
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“U.S. warships in the Red Sea have come under increasing fire from the Houthis
in Yemen since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October. At the same
time, the Hezbollah in Lebanon has hinted it could target the U.S. Navy in the
Eastern Mediterranean. Could such Iran-backed armed groups really pose a
serious obstacle or threat to U.S. naval power in the region? The naval
destroyer USS Carney shot down three drones during a sustained attack in the
Red Sea on Dec. 3. The drones targeted nearby commercial ships as well as the
destroyer. The Carney previously shot down four cruise missiles and 15 drones
the Houthis launched toward Israel over the Red Sea on Oct. 19, the first such
attack originating from Yemen since the Israel-Hamas War began 12 days earlier.
On Nov. 27, two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen
landed “approximately ten nautical miles” away from the USS Mason after that
destroyer had responded to the hijacking of a commercial vessel, according to a
U.S. Central Command statement. Days earlier, on Nov. 23, the USS Thomas Hudner
shot down several attack drones targeting it in the Red Sea. The same warship
downed a drone headed in its direction on Nov. 15, also over the Red Sea.”



Iraq



Associated Press: A Rocket Attack Targets The US Embassy In Baghdad, Causing
Minor Damage But No Casualties
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“A rocket attack on the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad caused minor damage
but no casualties on Friday morning, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The attack
was the first on the embassy located in the heavily fortified Green Zone of
Iraq’s capital to be confirmed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on
Oct. 7, triggered by the deadly attack on southern Israel by Palestinian
militants from Gaza. The Green Zone houses Iraqi government buildings and
foreign embassies on the west bank of the Tigris River. Friday’s assault was
followed by drone and multi-rocket attacks, including on al-Asad air base in
western Iraq and three troop locations in Syria, also with no casualties, U.S.
officials said. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for
dozens of attacks that targeted bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria
since the Israel-Hamas war erupted two months ago. The U.S. military says 78
attacks have been carried out against U.S. facilities over the past weeks, of
which 43 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria. An Iraqi security official said 14
Katyusha rockets were fired Friday, of which some struck near one of the U.S.
Embassy’s gates while others fell in the river.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Taliban Reportedly Dismantled Islamic State Bases In Western
Afghanistan
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“Taliban security forces in Afghanistan have reportedly killed an Islamic
State operative and captured several others during overnight raids on the
militant group’s bases near the border with Iran. “important network” of the
regional branch of Islamic State known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, said
a Taliban-affiliated media outlet Friday. The network was involved in some of
the recent attacks on the Shi’ite Muslim community in Afghanistan, according to
Al-Mersaad, which is tasked to counter IS-K propaganda in the country and
report on Taliban counterterrorism operations against the group. Using a local
acronym for the group, Al-Mersaad noted that “some of the arrested ISKP members
are highly important.” It was not possible to verify the claims from
independent sources and Taliban government officials rarely comment on reports
published by the state media outlet. The United States, in recent statements,
has described IS-K as a significant threat to regional security, warning the
group could soon launch an international attack from Afghan bases. On Thursday,
U.S. President Joe Biden attempted to address those concerns in a letter he
wrote to Congress. “United States military personnel remain postured outside
Afghanistan to address threats to the United States homeland and United States
interests that may arise from inside Afghanistan,” Biden said without
elaborating.”



BBC: Elite Afghan Troops Face Return To Taliban After UK 'Betrayal'
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“The figures - gathered by a network of Afghan veterans - reveal the scale of
what one former UK general calls a "betrayal" and a "disgrace". The soldiers
fled to Pakistan, which now says it will expel Afghan refugees. The UK says it
has brought thousands of Afghans to safety. Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who served
the British Army in Afghanistan over 12 years, told BBC Newsnight that the
failure of the UK to relocate these soldiers "is a disgrace, because it
reflects that either we're duplicitous as a nation or incompetent". "Neither
are acceptable," he said. "It is a betrayal, and the cost of that betrayal will
be people who served with us will die or spend their lives in prison." In 2021,
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told Parliament that the service of these
Afghan special forces had been "incredibly important", adding the UK would do
"whatever we can" to get "safe passage" for them. The fears for the Afghan
commandos come as it was revealed the government also rejected calls from
senior British diplomatic and military figures to offer asylum to key Afghan
civilian leaders whose lives were in danger. The BBC has obtained a private
letter sent in March 2022 to the Foreign Office, which called for urgent help
to be given to a group of 32 former governors, prosecutors and officials who
worked with the UK and US in Helmand Province during operations between 2006
and 2014.”



Associated Press: UN Says The Taliban Must Embrace And Uphold Human Rights
Obligations In Afghanistan
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“The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan,
the U.N. mission in the country said Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power
in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and
girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily
life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The U.N. mission,
highlighting the Taliban’s failures in upholding rights’ obligations, said it
continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment,
corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of
detainees’ rights. People who speak out in defense of human rights face
arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said. “We
pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders,
many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental
tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: peace, justice and
freedom,” said Fiona Frazer, representative of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights in Afghanistan.”



Yemen



Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Warn They Will Target All Ships Headed To Israel
<[link removed]>



“Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday they would target all ships heading
to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international
shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports. The Iran-aligned group
is escalating the risks of a regional conflict amid a brutal war between Israel
and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Houthis have attacked and seized
several Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and its Bab al-Mandab strait, a sea
lane through which much of the world's oil is shipped, and fired ballistic
missiles and armed drones at Israel. Houthi officials say their actions are a
show of support for the Palestinians. Israel said attacks on ships was an
"Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime
security. A Houthi military spokesperson said all ships sailing to Israeli
ports are banned from the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. "If Gaza does not
receive the food and medicine it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for
Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our
armed forces," the spokesperson said in a statement. The threat has an
immediate effect, the statement added. The Houthis are one of several groups in
the Iran-aligned "Axis of Resistance" which have been hitting Israeli and U.S.
targets since Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Violence Escalates Between Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah
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“Violence escalated at Lebanon's border with Israel on Sunday as Hezbollah
launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and
Israeli air strikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon. Israel
and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the war in Gaza
erupted two months ago, in their worst hostilities since a 2006 conflict. The
violence has largely been contained to the border area. An Israeli air strike
on the town of Aitaroun destroyed five homes and damaged many more, Ali Hijazi,
a local official, said. "Divine intervention prevented anyone being martyred.
Three women and two men were wounded," he told Reuters. The Israeli army did
not immediately respond to a request for comment. Senior Hezbollah politician
Hassan Fadlallah, in a statement to Reuters, said Israeli air strikes were a
"new escalation" to which the group was responding with new types of attacks,
be it "in the nature of the weapons (used) or the targeted sites". The Israeli
army earlier said "suspicious aerial targets" had crossed from Lebanon and two
were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded and a number of
others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.”



Middle East



NPR: With The Israel-Hamas War, Sunni And Shia Armed Groups Find Uncommon Unity

<[link removed]>



“The Gaza war has pushed together powerful Iran-backed Shia Muslim
paramilitaries with militant Sunni factions in what appears to be closer
cooperation between groups that differ in religious ideology but are united by
opposition to Israel and the United States. Hamas, which launched the attacks
on Israel two months ago that sparked the war, is a primarily Sunni Muslim
Palestinian movement. The group — whose name is an Arabic acronym for the
Islamic Resistance Movement — is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the
powerful Islamist movement that was founded in Egypt in the 1920s. Hamas itself
was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian cleric who was living
in Gaza. Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004. The group he founded won
elections in Gaza two years later and the following year seized control from
the Palestinian Authority. Egypt and Israel responded by blockading Gaza.
Although Palestinians include Shia Muslims, Christians, Druze and other
denominations, the vast majority are Sunni Muslims. Lebanese Hezbollah, a Shia
Muslim movement, emerged during the country's civil war after Israel's 1982
invasion of Lebanon. Its fighters have been trained and funded partly by Iran,
which uses armed proxy groups to extend its power in the region. Apart from
Hamas, it poses the biggest challenge to Israel. Hezbollah and Israeli forces
have attacked each other across the Lebanese-Israeli border since the war in
Gaza began in October.”



Associated Press: Six Palestinians Are Killed In The Israeli Military’s Latest
West Bank Raid, Health Officials Say
<[link removed]>



“Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on
Friday to arrest suspected Palestinian militants, unleashing fighting with
local gunmen in which six Palestinians were killed, health officials said.
Among the dead were a 14-year-old boy and a local commander of the Al Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular nationalist Fatah party, the
Palestinian Health Ministry said. Thousands of men poured into the streets for
their funeral, chanting with the bodies held aloft while masked militants
opened fire into the air. Israeli undercover forces sneaked into the Faraa camp
near the northern town of Tubas on Friday morning and set up sniper positions
on top of buildings, residents said. They described Israeli soldiers trading
staccato gunfire with Palestinian militants and young boys throwing stones at
armored vehicles and setting tires on fire in the streets. The Israeli military
did not respond to a request for comment on the operation. Later Friday, the
military said that one soldier was injured by Palestinian gunmen in a drive-by
shooting in the northern West Bank. Soldiers at the military post where the
shooting occurred fired back at the gunmen and began to pursue them, closing
off roads in the area. The events Friday followed a dramatic surge in deadly
military raids and increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents across the
West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war.”



Reuters: Fighting Intensifies Across Gaza, Raising Alarm Over Potential Exodus
Into Egypt
<[link removed]>



“Fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified across Gaza on Monday, fuelling
fears flagged by the United Nations at the weekend of a breakdown in public
order and a mass exodus of Palestinians into Egypt. The narrow coastal strip
has been under a full Israeli blockade since the start of the conflict more
than two months ago and the border with Egypt is the only other way out. Most
of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and residents
say it is impossible to find refuge in the densely populated enclave, with
around 18,000 people already killed and conflict intensifying. Since the
breakdown of a week-long ceasefire, Israel launched a ground offensive in the
south last week and has since pushed from the east into the heart of the major
city of Khan Younis, with warplanes attacking an area to the west. On Monday,
militants and some residents said fighters were preventing Israeli tanks moving
further west through the city and there were also fierce clashes in parts of
northern Gaza, where Israel had said its tasks were largely complete. Israelis
fled to shelters after new warnings of rocket fire from Gaza, including in Tel
Aviv. The armed wing of Hamas said it was bombarding the city in response to
"the Zionist massacres against civilians". In Jabalia in northern Gaza,
Palestinians ran to escape smoke bombs fired near tents and other homes.”



Europe



Reuters: France, Germany, Italy Back EU Sanctions Scheme To Target Hamas
<[link removed]>



“France, Germany and Italy called for the European Union to set up a special
sanctions scheme to target Hamas as EU foreign ministers met on Monday to
consider possible next steps in response to the Middle East crisis. Among the
possible measures up for discussion at the meeting are a crackdown on Hamas’
finances and travel bans for Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the
West Bank. In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the foreign
ministers of the bloc's three biggest countries said it was important the EU
take "all necessary measures against the terrorist group Hamas and its
supporters". "This implies a stronger European commitment both to combating
Hamas' infrastructure and financial support, and to isolating and
delegitimising Hamas internationally, which in no way represents the
Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations," said the letter, seen by
Reuters. Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist
organisation, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be
frozen. It was not immediately clear from the brief letter the details of how
sanctions would be broadened or tightened. If EU members agreed in principle,
the next step would be for experts to draw up the legal framework to figure out
which individuals or entities would be targeted.”



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