“A bomb blast in Tel Aviv late on Sunday has been confirmed as a terrorist
attack, Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said on
Monday. The man carrying the bomb, which exploded near a synagogue, was killed
and a passerby was injured, according to police at the scene. "It can now be
confirmed that this was a terror attack," police and Shin Bet said in a joint
statement on Monday. Sunday's explosion came about an hour after U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to push for a ceasefire in Gaza
that will end the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. There has been
increased urgency to reach a ceasefire deal amid fears of an escalation across
the wider region. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the
assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has
not claimed responsibility for his death.”











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Eye on Extremism



August 19, 2024



Reuters: Deadly Bomb Blast In Tel Aviv Was A Terrorist Attack, Israeli Police
Say
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“A bomb blast in Tel Aviv late on Sunday has been confirmed as a terrorist
attack, Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency said on
Monday. The man carrying the bomb, which exploded near a synagogue, was killed
and a passerby was injured, according to police at the scene. "It can now be
confirmed that this was a terror attack," police and Shin Bet said in a joint
statement on Monday. Sunday's explosion came about an hour after U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to push for a ceasefire in Gaza
that will end the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. There has been
increased urgency to reach a ceasefire deal amid fears of an escalation across
the wider region. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the
assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has
not claimed responsibility for his death.”



Reuters: Blinken Warns Israel, Hamas Of Last Chance To End Gaza War
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“U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Monday that the latest push
for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was probably the best and
possibly last opportunity, urging Israel and Hamas towards an elusive
agreement. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has cast doubt on the chances of
reaching a deal since talks in Qatar last week paused without a breakthrough,
but the negotiations are to resume this week based on a U.S. "bridging
proposal". Blinken met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday before heading
into a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while in Gaza Israeli
forces thrust further into Khan Younis, residents said, in the latest phase of
their assault. "This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last
opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on
a better path to enduring peace and security," Blinken told reporters before
meeting Herzog.”




CEP Expert Analysis

* Counterpoint Brief: US Designates Nordic Resistance Movement Specially
Designated Global Terrorist Organization
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* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in March 2024
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* CEP Report: Central Syria’s ISIS Insurgency In 2023
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* CEP Statement Calling For U.S. Sanctions Against Qatar, DIMDEX Conference,
And Al Thani Royal Family
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* Extremist Content Online: The Base Calls For Members of Other White
Supremacist Groups to Join
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CEP Mentions



RTS: Parents Of Swiss Jihadist Accused Of ‘Financing Terrorism’
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“The parents of a Swiss jihadist fighter are in the dock on Monday in
Bellinzona, Ticino. They are being tried by the Federal Criminal Court for
having sent more than 50,000 francs to their son who had gone to Syria. The
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland accuses the parents of "financing
terrorism". […] According to Hans-Jakob Schindler, an expert on terrorist
financing interviewed Monday on La Matinale, "the people who send money have no
control over what the terrorist fighter is going to do with it. Whether he buys
Nutella or parts to build an explosive device to kill soldiers, they simply
don't know. So when we approach cases [like this], we have to assume that the
money sent could have financed the purchase of bombs or other weapons."”



Soester-Anzeiger: Sabotage Against Bundeswehr Bases In NRW: “There Is Much
Evidence For A Russian Attack Attempt”
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“... Hans-Jakob Schindler, for example, a terrorism expert from the Counter
Extremism Project (CEP), sees three groups as possible suspects: Russian or
Russian-backed actors, radical Islamists or left-wing extremists. He considers
one suspicion to be particularly likely: "The first thing I would check is
whether it was a Russian or Russian-backed attack attempt or whether it was at
least Russian-initiated," said Schindler in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA .
There is much to support this theory. Germany has been the focus of Russian
attackers since 2022 at the latest, if not since the Minsk Agreement in 2015.
And the NATO base in Geilenkirchen in particular plays a special role in the
context of the Ukraine war: AWACS aircraft are stationed there, which can be
used to observe movements on NATO's eastern flank.”



Syria



The Guardian: Fighting Intensifies Between Israel And Hezbollah Despite
Diplomatic Drive
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“Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified over the weekend
despite diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between the two and prevent
an expected Hezbollah and Iranian attack against Israel. An Israeli attack on
Saturday was one of the bloodiest for civilians since fighting began in
October, killing 10 Syrian workers and their family members in what Israel said
was a strike on a Hezbollah weapons depot in Nabatieh, south Lebanon. In
response, Hezbollah launched a 55-missile barrage at the town of Ayelet
HaShahar, in north Israel. Three Unifil peacekeepers were also lightly injured
in an explosion on Sunday while on patrol in the Lebanese border town of Yarin.
A source within Unifil said they believed the soldiers were injured by a nearby
Israeli airstrike, but that they were still investigating the incident.”



Yemen



Associated Press: Former Saudi Official Alleges Prince Mohammed Forged King’s
Signature On Yemen War Decree, BBC Says
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“A former Saudi official alleged in a report that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that
launched the kingdom’s yearslong, stalemated war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the
allegations made without supporting evidence by Saad al-Jabri in an interview
published Monday by the BBC, though the kingdom has described him as “a
discredited former government official.” Al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence
official who lives in exile in Canada, has been a yearslong dispute with the
kingdom as his two children have been imprisoned in case he describes as trying
to lure him back to Saudi Arabia. The allegation comes as Prince Mohammed now
serves as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, often meeting leaders in place
of his father, the 88-year-old King Salman.”



Lebanon



CBS News: Israeli Strike In Lebanon Kills At Least 10 Including Mother And Her
2 Children
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“An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon early Saturday killed at least 10
Syrian nationals, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The strike on Wadi
al-Kfour in Nabatieh province is among the deadliest in Lebanon since the
Hezbollah militant group and Israeli military started trading strikes on Oct.
8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel and sparked the Israel-Hamas war
in Gaza. Hezbollah maintains that it will stop its attacks once a cease-fire is
reached in the Gaza Strip. Among the dead were a woman and her two children,
the ministry said. Five others were wounded, two of whom were in critical
condition. An Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli military, Avichay
Adraee, said the strike in the southern province targeted a weapons depot
belonging to Hezbollah.”



Middle East



Reuters: Israel Kills Two Hamas Militants In West Bank Air Strike
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“Israel said it killed two senior Hamas militants in an airstrike on their
car in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, claiming they were involved
in the killing of an Israeli. A joint statement from the Israel Security Agency
and the Israel Defense Forces identified the militants as Ahmed Abu Ara and
Rafet Dawasi, both from the West Bank's northern district around Jenin. In a
statement, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades military wing said it was mourning the
deaths of two fighters in an Israeli air strike on their vehicle in Jenin. The
Israeli statement said the two militants were involved in planning a shooting
attack last week in the West Bank's Jordan Valley where an Israeli man, Yonatan
Deutsch, was killed. Israeli authorities said then that Palestinian gunmen
opened fire on a main road in the occupied West Bank on Aug. 11, killing one
and wounding another.”



Africa



Associated Press: 16 Villagers Killed And 20 Abducted In Congo In Attacks
Blamed On Islamic State-Linked Rebels
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“At least 16 villagers were killed and 20 others were abducted in
northeastern Congo during attacks by militants with ties to the Islamic State
group, a local civil society group said Friday. The assailants with the Allied
Democratic Forces staged a series of attacks on locals, some while working on
their farmlands, between Wednesday and Friday in Ituri province’s Mambasa
territory, said John Vulverio, coordinator of the New Civil Society of Congo.
“The (death) toll remains provisional, as the fate of 20 others kidnapped
remains unknown,” he said. Among those kidnapped in the attacks were the mother
and sister of Gilbert Sivamwenda, a local government official, local media
quoted the legislator as saying. Dozens of villages across Congo are besieged
by armed groups made up of either local rebels fighting for power and valuable
mineral resources or militants with extremist ideologies.”



Associated Press: Sudan’s Paramilitary Fighters Killed 85 People In An Attack
On A Central Village, Residents Say
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“Fighters from Sudan’s paramilitary group rampaged through a central village,
looting and burning and killing at least 85 people, including women and
children, authorities and residents said Saturday, the latest atrocity in the
country’s 18-month devastating conflict. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
began attacking Galgani in the central province of Sennar late in July and last
week RSF fighters “indiscriminately opened fire on the village’s unarmed
residents” after they resisted attempts to abduct and sexually assault women
and girls, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. More than 150
villagers were wounded, it said. The RSF has been repeatedly accused of
massacres, rapes and other gross violations across the country since the war
started in April last year, when simmering tensions between the military and
the group exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere.”



United Kingdom



BBC: Misogyny To Be Treated As Extremism By UK Government
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“Extreme misogyny will be treated as a form of extremism under new government
plans, the Home Office has said. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has ordered
a review of the UK's counter-extremism strategy to determine how best to tackle
threats posed by harmful ideologies. The analysis will look at hatred of women
as one of the ideological trends that the government says is gaining traction.
Ms Cooper said there has been a rise in extremism "both online and on our
streets" that "frays the very fabric of our communities and our democracy". The
review will look at the rise of Islamist and far-right extremism in the UK, as
well as wider ideological trends, including extreme misogyny or beliefs which
fit into broader categories, such as violence. It will also look at the causes
and conduct of the radicalisation of young people. Ms Cooper said the strategy
will "map and monitor extremist trends" to work out how to disrupt and divert
people away from them.”



Europe



Associated Press: Irish Police Investigate Potential Terrorism Motive In
Attack On Army Chaplain
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“Irish police said Friday they were investigating a potential terrorism
motive in an attack on a chaplain at an army barracks in County Galway. Police
said the army chaplain was approached by a young person outside Renmore
Barracks in western Ireland and was stabbed a number of times Thursday night.
The Catholic priest, who is in his 50s, was rushed to a hospital and was
treated for injuries that were serious but not life-threatening. The Defense
Forces said shots were fired by on-duty personnel after the chaplain was
attacked, and a male teenager was quickly detained at the scene. The suspect
was being questioned in detention at a police station. Police said “one line of
inquiry is to establish if this attack had a terrorism motivation.” They added
that the incident was not believed to be “part of a wider conspiracy.””



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