“A response from Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel's ceasefire
proposal that U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Friday is still being
awaited, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on
Tuesday. "We are waiting for a response from Hamas" through the Qatari
mediators, Sullivan said. CIA Director Bill Burns will be in Doha to consult
with Qatari mediators on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Sullivan added. Qatar has
been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Qatar said on Tuesday it had
delivered the Israeli ceasefire proposal to Hamas that reflected a three-phase
proposal presented by Biden, and that the paper was now much closer to the
positions of both sides. A spokesman for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since
2007, reiterated on Tuesday it could not agree to any deal unless Israel makes
a "clear" commitment to a permanent truce and complete withdrawal from Gaza.”











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Eye on Extremism



June 5, 2024



Reuters: US Says Response From Hamas On Ceasefire Proposal Still Awaited
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“A response from Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel's ceasefire
proposal that U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Friday is still being
awaited, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on
Tuesday. "We are waiting for a response from Hamas" through the Qatari
mediators, Sullivan said. CIA Director Bill Burns will be in Doha to consult
with Qatari mediators on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Sullivan added. Qatar has
been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Qatar said on Tuesday it had
delivered the Israeli ceasefire proposal to Hamas that reflected a three-phase
proposal presented by Biden, and that the paper was now much closer to the
positions of both sides. A spokesman for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since
2007, reiterated on Tuesday it could not agree to any deal unless Israel makes
a "clear" commitment to a permanent truce and complete withdrawal from Gaza.”



Associated Press: Gunman Captured After Shootout Outside US Embassy In Lebanon
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“A gunman was shot and captured by Lebanese soldiers after a shootout outside
the U.S. Embassy outside Beirut on Wednesday morning, the military said. The
attack took place as tensions continued to simmer in the tiny Mediterranean
country, where months of fighting between Hezbollah militants and Israeli
troops has displaced thousands along the border, following years of political
deadlock and economic hardship. The Lebanese military in a statement said that
soldiers shot an assailant, who they only described as a Syrian national. The
gunman was wounded and taken to a hospital. The shooter’s motives were not
clear. However, Lebanese media have published photos that appear to show a
bloodied attacker wearing a black vest with the words “Islamic State” written
in Arabic and the English initials “I” and “S.” Local media reported that there
was a gunfight involving at least one attacker lasting almost half an hour.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* 'We will dance again' – Remembering the horrors of October 7 at a powerful
new exhibition
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* CEP-KAS: Sahel Monitoring March 2024
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* Disinformation, Hate, and Polarization: The Attack on Slovakia's Prime
Minister
<[link removed]>
* Russian Connections to Israel-Gaza Protests
<[link removed]>
* Violence-Oriented Right-Wing Extremist Actors in Russia: Wagner Group –
Part 2
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CEP Mentions



DW: How Russia Is Moving Closer To The Taliban
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“... What does that mean? Although he does not know the internal
decision-making processes in the Russian Foreign Ministry, says Hans-Jakob
Schindler from the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) in The
Hague. However, it can be assumed that Russia expects "something in return" for
the offer to remove the Taliban from the terror list. However, that could cause
problems: "The Taliban are always very willing to accept advance payments, but
if there is something in return, things get very complicated with them." The
German Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig sees the Kremlin's initiative as "a
kind of salami tactic: very small steps towards official recognition - which
the Taliban certainly likes." The next step after being removed from the terror
list could be the recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate state power in
Afghanistan, experts believe.”



Merkur.De: Terror Expert On Mannheim Attack: “Like Something From An Is Manual”
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“Munich – For days, the country was worried about Rouven Laur – but the
police officer did not survive the knife attack in Mannheim . It is now known
that Sulaiman A.'s attack was motivated by Islamism. Shortly before the
European Football Championship, the incident is fuelling fears of further
attacks. Hans-Jakob Schindler, former UN terrorism expert and director of the
Counter Extremism Project (CEP), assesses the terror threat in an interview.
There is much to suggest that the attacker was a lone perpetrator who was
inspired by Islamist ideologies. However, one does not necessarily have to be
connected to terrorist groups to carry out an attack. The knife attack can also
be attributed to IS without IS actors themselves having actively participated.”



FrankfurterRundschau: Criticism Of X Over Video Of Mannheim Knife Attack:
Further Distribution Can Be Punishable
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“... Extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project
(CEP) finds this irresponsible. "Twitter is not just any darknet service,
anyone could see it and use it," said Schindler in an interview with this
editorial team. "The fact that the brutal video spread so quickly on X and can
still be found is fueling the debates and conflicts." In fact, hundreds of
comments, some of them extreme, quickly piled up under the posts showing the
video - many with xenophobic content or from the radical Islamist corner.
Others, however, spread fake news because they had simply misinterpreted the
scenes. Schindler believes that the providers of large social media platforms
like X have a responsibility.”



United States



Fox News: FBI Director Warns Of Jihadist Attack In US, Similar To Russian
Concert Hall: 'Heightened Terrorist Threat'
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“FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on
Tuesday that there is an increasing concern of a potential coordinated attack
in the U.S., similar to the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) attack
in March at a concert hall in Russia. Wray met with the Senate Appropriations
subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to make his
case on the department’s request of $11.3 billion for FY25, or $661 million
more than last year. He told members of the subcommittee that when he met with
them last year, he walked them through how the U.S. was already in a heightened
threat environment, and since then, threats from foreign terrorists have risen
to another level. "Just in the time that I’ve been FBI director, we’ve
disrupted multiple terrorist attacks and cities and communities around the
country. We need funding to continue protecting America from terrorism," he
said.”



Voice Of America: US Denies Houthis Struck USS Eisenhower
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“U.S. defense officials have denied claims by the Yemen-based Houthi
militants that the group struck a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Red Sea last
week. “There is no truth to the Houthi claim of striking the USS Eisenhower or
any U.S. Navy vessel,” U.S. Central Command told VOA. “This is an ongoing
disinformation campaign that the Houthis have been conducting for months.” The
Houthi claim followed U.S. and British strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen,
the latest in a series of attacks targeting the group in response to its
campaign threatening vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The
Iran-backed Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid
the war in Gaza. Their campaign has disrupted commercial shipping through the
important corridor, prompting many companies to reroute ships on the longer and
more expensive route around the African continent.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Rights Group Urges UN To Demand Taliban Include Women In
Talks About Future
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“As the United Nations and the Taliban prepare to discuss Afghanistan in
Doha, Qatar, on June 30, a New York-based global women's rights advocacy
nongovernmental organization has urged the U.N. to demand the Taliban ensure
full and equal participation of Afghan women, peacebuilders and human rights
defenders in all discussions about Afghanistan's future. During forthcoming
meetings, the U.N. Security Council should demand that "the Taliban immediately
reverse all policies and practices that restrict the full enjoyment of women's
human rights, in accordance with Afghanistan's international obligations,
including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), as well as relevant Security Council resolutions," the
group, the Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, said in a communication
posted May 30 on its website.”



Voice Of America: Taliban Publicly Flog 63 Afghan Men, Women For Crimes Such
As 'Immoral Relations'
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“The Taliban's supreme court announced Tuesday that more than 63 people,
including 14 women, were publicly flogged in northern Afghanistan after being
convicted of crimes such as homosexuality, adultery, and other “immoral
relations.” This is the first time the fundamentalist Taliban rulers flogged
such a large group of Afghans in public since returning to power in Kabul
nearly three years ago. The announcement stated that Tuesday’s punishments were
executed in the central sports stadium of Sar-e Pul, the capital of the Afghan
province of the same name. The provincial governor, judges, security officials,
area elders, and members of the public were among the onlookers. The Taliban
have publicly flogged hundreds of men and women in sports stadiums across the
country since retaking control of Afghanistan in August 2021. At least five
Afghans convicted of murder have also been executed publicly by gunfire.”



Associated Press: Emirati Leader Meets With Taliban Official Facing $10
Million US Bounty Over Attacks
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“The leader of the United Arab Emirates met Tuesday with an official in the
Taliban government still wanted by the United States on an up-to $10 million
bounty over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and
other assaults. The meeting highlights the growing divide internationally on
how to deal with the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 and
since have barred girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and
otherwise restricted women’s role in public life. While the West still doesn’t
recognize the Taliban as Kabul’s government, nations in the Mideast and
elsewhere have reached out to them. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the
ruler of Abu Dhabi, met Sirajuddin Haqqani at the Qasr Al Shati palace in the
Emirati capital, the state-run WAM news agency reported.”



Lebanon



Associated Press: Rights Group Accuses Israel Of Hitting Residential Buildings
With White Phosphorous In Lebanon
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“A global human rights group accused Israel of using white phosphorus
incendiary shells on residential buildings in at least five towns and villages
in conflict-hit southern Lebanon, possibly harming civilians and violating
international law, in a report published Wednesday. Human Rights Watch said in
its report that there was no evidence of burn injuries due to white phosphorus
in Lebanon, but that researchers had “heard accounts indicating possible
respiratory damage.” Human rights advocates say it’s a crime under
international law to fire the controversial munitions into populated areas. The
white-hot chemical substance can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh
down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory
failure, even if their burns are small.”



BBC: Fires In Northern Israel Fuel Demands To Tackle Escalation With Hezbollah
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“Hezbollah rockets have sparked days of bushfires in northern Israel, with
swathes of forest reserve destroyed and 11 people hospitalised for smoke
inhalation. Patches of scorched earth start to appear half an hour out from the
Lebanon border, plumes of grey smoke mapping the route to either side across
the hills. Local residents in Israel’s largely-deserted northern communities,
have been battling scattered fires for several weeks. One member of a civil
defence team said there had been 15-16 fires in the area since then. But high
temperatures over the past few days have led to a sharp increase. Firefighters
on Monday battled for 20 hours to put out fires around the town of Kiryat
Shmona. The fires – which forest administrators say have so far burned through
3,500 acres of land – are fuelling fresh demands that Israel’s government take
steps to end the escalating conflict with Hezbollah on its northern front.”



Middle East



Associated Press: In A West Bank Refugee Camp, Israel’s Raids Fuel The
Militancy It Tries To Stamp Out
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“An Israeli army raid in April set off a near three-day gunbattle with
Palestinian militants. By the time it was over, homes had been blasted to
rubble and many residents had fled. The raid wasn’t in Gaza, where Israel is at
war with Hamas, but more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away in the Nur Shams
refugee camp in the West Bank — a territory that has been under Israeli
military rule for over a half-century. The persistence of Palestinian militancy
in the West Bank, and its surge since the war in Gaza began, shows the limits
of Israel’s military might as the decades-old conflict grinds on with little
prospect of a political settlement. Israeli leaders portray the southern Gaza
city of Rafah as Hamas’ last bastion, suggesting that a long-elusive victory in
the war ignited by the militants’ Oct. 7 attack may be at hand. They have vowed
to maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and prevent the establishment
of a Palestinian state.”



Associated Press: Famine Is Possibly Underway In Northern Gaza Despite Recent
Aid Efforts, A New Report Warns
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“An independent group of experts warned Tuesday that it’s possible that
famine is underway in northern Gaza but that the war between Israel and Hamas
and restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded the data collection to
prove it. “It is possible, if not likely,” the group known as the Famine Early
Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, said about famine in Gaza. Concerns about
deadly hunger have been high in recent months and spiked after the head of the
World Food Program last month said northern Gaza had entered “full-blown
famine” after nearly seven months of war. Experts at the U.N. agency later said
Cindy McCain was expressing a personal opinion. An area is considered to be in
famine when three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food,
or are essentially starving; at least 30% of the children suffer from acute
malnutrition or wasting, meaning they’re too thin for their height; and two
adults or four children per every 10,000 people are dying daily of hunger and
its complications.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility for Deadly Explosion in Somalia

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“At least two Somali National Army (SNA) members were killed and three others
injured after a remote control landmine exploded at the main checkpoint in
Ceelberde town in Bakool region, southwest state of Somalia, according to
eyewitnesses. The attack occurred on Tuesday, and Al-Shabaab militants have
claimed responsibility for the incident. Al-Shabaab militants stated that they
killed three SNA soldiers and wounded two others in the attack in Ceelberde
town. However, local authorities and SNA officials have not yet provided
details about the explosion. This attack comes as a grim reminder of the
ongoing security challenges faced by the Somali government and its security
forces in their efforts to combat the threat of Al-Shabaab militants. The group
has been responsible for numerous attacks on civilians and security forces in
the region, aiming to destabilize the government and impose its extremist
ideology.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Teen Arrested At Gatwick By Counter-Terror Police
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“A teenager has been arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of a terrorism
offence. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command
stopped the 17-year-old under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Sunday as he returned
to the UK. Police examined his phone and he was subsequently arrested on
suspicion of dissemination of terrorist material. The investigation relates to
extreme Islamist-related material, according to police. After being interviewed
at a London police station, the teenager was released on bail until July. As
part of the investigation, officers have also carried out a search at a
residential address in south west London and said enquiries remain ongoing. Cdr
Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Command, said this was another
example of a teenager being arrested for terrorism offences, which he described
as a "concerning trend".”



France



Voice Of America: Terror Attacks Headline Threats To Upcoming Paris Olympics
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“There are new warnings about potential attacks aimed at disrupting the
upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Paris, including the potential for more terror
plots like the one disrupted last week by French officials. A report released
Tuesday by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future states that despite a high
likelihood of cyberattacks, the greatest risk to the Paris Games will come from
in-person threats instead of from cyberspace. “We assess that physical security
threats — including terrorism, violent extremism, civil unrest and disruptive
protests — pose the greatest risk of harm and disruption,” the report from
Recorded Future’s Insikt Group said. “Terrorists and violent extremists —
particularly IS [Islamic State] and al-Qaida supporters in France and
neighboring European countries — will almost certainly continue to plot and
incite violent attacks targeting the Paris Olympics,” the report added. “Though
extensive security infrastructure in place for the event will make a successful
mass-casualty attack very unlikely.””



Germany



DW: Far-Right AfD Appears As Strongest German Party On Tiktok
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“Of all the parties represented in the German parliament the far-right
Alternative for Germany (AfD) uses the youth social media platform TikTok the
most, according to a study published Tuesday. "We are observing masses of
openly right-wing extremist symbols and codes on TikTok," said Deborah
Schnabel, the director of the Anne Frank Educational Center, which conducted
the analysis. "Time and again, accounts from the AfD or from the party's
environment are involved" in such content, Schnabel said. AfD party leader
Alice Weidel was one of the top five political influencers on TikTok in
Germany, the study noted. AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund of the eastern German
state of Saxony-Anhalt was in first place with more than 400,000 followers.
Woman holding a mobile phone on whose display a video of AFD politician Alice
Weidel can be seen on the TikTok platform.”



Associated Press: German Authorities See Islamic Extremist Motive In Mannheim
Knife Attack
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“German authorities say they have uncovered evidence of an Islamic extremist
motive in last week’s knife attack in the southwestern city of Mannheim in
which a police officer was fatally injured. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann
wrote on the social media platform X late Monday that “there are now clear
indications of an Islamist motive” for the attack and federal prosecutors, who
are responsible for terrorism and national security cases, are taking over the
investigation. The federal prosecutor’s office confirmed Tuesday that it has
taken on the investigation, citing the significance of the case and the
suspicion that it was religiously motivated. Investigators have said the
suspected assailant, a 25-year-old man from Afghanistan who has lived in
Germany since 2014 and reportedly had his asylum application rejected, stabbed
several members of a group that describes itself as opposing “political Islam.””



Europe



Associated Press: Slovenia Becomes Latest European Country To Recognize A
Palestinian State After A Parliamentary Vote
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“Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday after its parliament
voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move, following in the recent steps of
three other European countries. Slovenia’s government endorsed a motion last
week to recognize a Palestinian state, and sent the proposal to the parliament
for final approval, which was needed for the decision to take effect. Lawmakers
on Tuesday voted with 52 in favor and no one against recognition in the 90-seat
parliament. The remaining lawmakers were not present for the vote. “Dear people
of Palestine, today’s final decision of Slovenia is a message of hope and
peace,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on the social media
platform X. “We believe that only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting
peace in the #MiddleEast. Slovenia will tirelessly continue to work on the
security of both nations, Palestinians and Israelis.””



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