“Israel’s military forces crossed the border into southern Lebanon on Monday to
conduct what its military described as “limited, localized, and targeted ground
raids” against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The offensive, which
is aimed at pushing Hezbollah forces farther away from the Israeli border, is
expected to last for days, not weeks, U.S. officials said. Israel informed the
U.S. that the intention of the incursion into southern Lebanon is to push
Hezbollah forces farther from the Israeli border and target their
infrastructure, including stockpiles and weapons, according to a U.S. official,
a Biden administration official and a source familiar with the planning. The
offensive will be limited in duration and scope, possibly lasting for days, not
weeks, the sources said, adding that the geographic reach will be limited.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 1, 2024



NBC News: Israel Launches Invasion Into Southern Lebanon Targeting Hezbollah
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“Israel’s military forces crossed the border into southern Lebanon on Monday
to conduct what its military described as “limited, localized, and targeted
ground raids” against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The offensive,
which is aimed at pushing Hezbollah forces farther away from the Israeli
border, is expected to last for days, not weeks, U.S. officials said. Israel
informed the U.S. that the intention of the incursion into southern Lebanon is
to push Hezbollah forces farther from the Israeli border and target their
infrastructure, including stockpiles and weapons, according to a U.S. official,
a Biden administration official and a source familiar with the planning. The
offensive will be limited in duration and scope, possibly lasting for days, not
weeks, the sources said, adding that the geographic reach will be limited.”



Fox News: Israel Launches Limited Ground Operations In Lebanon As War Against
Hezbollah, Terrorist Groups Continue
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“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a limited, localized ground operation
targeting Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah on Monday evening, marking a
new chapter in the Israel-Hamas war. The developments came in the wake of the
IDF's successful attacks against Hezbollah, killing several of the
organization's key figures over the weekend. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
was one of the most notable fatalities. The Israeli military also confirmed
that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was
eliminated by IDF forces. Shortly before Monday's operation, the IDF imposed a
closed military zone on northern Israeli border communities including Metula,
Misgav Am, and Kfar Giladi. The incursion began after the Israeli military
launched airstrikes on central Beirut on Sunday, marking the first time in the
year-long war that the central part of the Lebanese capital was targeted.”



CEP Mentions



DW: What Are Israel's Goals As Lebanon Offensive Begins?
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“Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Berlin-based Counter Extremism Project breaks
down Israel's four stated objectives for its land incursion into southern
Lebanon. He told DW that keeping the Israeli operation against Hezbollah
"limited, localized and targeted" will pose a challenge.”



BBC: Far-Right Group Using Sports To 'Build Militia'
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“... Alexander Ritzmann, a researcher with international organisation The
Counter Extremism Project and an adviser to the European Commission’s
Radicalisation Awareness Network, said he had "never seen a network in
right-wing extremism grow so fast". He said AC was a "sophisticated operation"
and warned if the movement was "allowed to continue to operate and multiply,
the likelihood for targeted political violence will increase". He said its
objective was "to build some sort of militia that hides behind the image of a
sports club, while actually preparing for organised violence". "When they
commit violence, members and groups will not publish a manifesto afterwards,"
he said. "This is different from other kinds of extreme right terrorism, where,
after the attack a manifesto with all kinds of explanations and theories is
published."”



Daily Mail: Israel ‘Warns US A Limited Invasion Could Start Today’ As
Terrified Lebanese Brace For War And Netanyahu Warns ‘Nowhere In The Middle
East’ Is Out Of Reach Of His Forces
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“Israel has warned Washington that a limited ground operation to clear out
Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon could start imminently, a US official said
today. The official said that the operation could start as soon as today.
Israel has vowed to continue to fight with Hezbollah after 'eliminating' its
secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, and other leading senior officials, in an
airstrike in Beirut on Friday, and is now gesturing towards an invasion. […]
Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and former
Ambassador of the UK to Yemen, told MailOnline: 'If you look at the Hezbollah
leadership roll call, they are mainly dead, many of them in the past week or
so. 'It's not clear to me whether there is an heir apparent. And would they
want primarily a fighter or a political or religious leader?'“



Iraq



Reuters: US Forces Accounted For After Reported Rocket Attack In Baghdad,
Official Says
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“Multiple Katyusha rockets were fired near Baghdad International Airport, two
Iraqi military officials told Reuters early on Tuesday, but a U.S. official
disputed reports that U.S. military forces were targeted in the incident. "All
military personnel are accounted for and military forces were not targeted as
had been reported," the U.S. defense official told Reuters, speaking on
condition of anonymity. The incident was a reminder of the soaring tensions in
the Middle East, as speculation swirled about whether Iran and Iran-backed
groups would make good on threats to retaliate after a series of Israeli major
blows against Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah. Two Iraqi security sources said
an initial investigation showed three rockets were fired, including one that
landed near buildings used by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces, causing damages
and fire to some vehicles but no casualties."



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: Taliban Asserts New Gains Against Afghan-Based IS Offshoot
Amid Skepticism
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“The Taliban said Monday that their security forces had killed and captured
several “key members” of a regional Islamic State affiliate for plotting recent
terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, alleging that the suspects had crossed over
from Pakistan. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesperson, listed the claims
and so-called successes against Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, locally known
as Daesh, in a formal statement without providing evidence to support them. The
assertions came after the country’s three immediate neighbors and Russia
jointly urged the de facto Kabul government this past Friday to take “visible
and verifiable actions” against transnational terrorist groups, including IS-K,
on Afghan soil. Mujahid said the IS-K operatives in question had been involved
in several recent attacks in Afghanistan.”



Yemen



Associated Press: Drone Boat Hits Ship In Red Sea As Missile Strikes Another
In Likely Assaults By Yemen Houthi Rebels
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“An explosive-loaded drone crashed into one ship Tuesday in the Red Sea as a
missile exploded against another, the British military and private security
officials said, marking the latest suspected attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The attacks likely are the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in
weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict. They
come as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes
that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top officials, and
earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia.
The Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel on
Monday after they apparently shot down a U.S. military drone flying over Yemen.
The first attack took place some 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the port city of
Hodeida.”



Middle East



Associated Press: Israeli Military Warns Several Lebanese Communities Near The
Border To Evacuate
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“The Israeli military on Tuesday warned nearly two dozen Lebanese border
communities to evacuate, hours after launching what it said was a limited
ground incursion against the Hezbollah militant group. The warning, posted by
the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesman on the social media platform X,
specified around two dozen communities in southern Lebanon and asked people to
evacuate north of the Awali River, some 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the
border. That is farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of
a U.N.-declared zone that was intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and
Hezbollah after they fought to a monthlong stalemate in the 2006 war. The army
had earlier warned people not to travel south of the Litani, some 30 kilometers
(18 miles) north of the border. The border region, which has largely emptied
out over the past year as the two sides have traded fire.”



Reuters: Israeli Bombardment Kills At Least 21 In Gaza As Fighting Rages
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“Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 people in Gaza on Tuesday, local
medics said and fighting ramped up, as the Israeli military said it had been
targeting command centres used by its Islamist militant foe Hamas. Palestinian
health officials said at least 13 people, including women and children, were
killed in two Israeli strikes on two houses in Nuseirat, one of the enclave's
eight historic refugee camps. There has been no immediate comment by the
Israeli army on the two strikes. Another strike on a school sheltering
displaced Palestinian families in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City killed
at least seven people, medics added. The Israeli military said in a statement
the air strike targeted Hamas militants operating from a command centre
embedded in a compound that had previously served as Al-Shejaia School.”



Somalia



Voice Of America: Exclusive: AFRICOM Chief Says Islamic State Doubles Size In
North Somalia
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“Islamic State in Somalia has approximately doubled in size over the past
year, the chief of U.S. Africa Command told VOA. “I am concerned about the
northern part of Somalia and ISIS growing in numbers,” AFRICOM commander Gen.
Michael Langley said in an exclusive interview, using an acronym for the terror
group. Langley declined to provide the United States’ estimate of how man
Islamic State fighters are in Somalia, other than to say that the group’s had
grown about “twofold” in the past year. Previous estimates have put the number
of Islamic State fighters in north Somalia at about 200 fighters. The AFRICOM
commander also warned about the possibility of Islamic State increasing its
foreign fighter presence in Somalia. Somali Brigadier General Abdi Hassan
Hussein, the former intelligence and police commander of Puntland, where
Islamic State is located in the north, told VOA earlier this year that the
number of Islamic State foreign fighters there alone is estimated in the
hundreds.”



Mali



Bloomberg: Barrick Says It Reaches Deal With Mali After Reports Staff Were
Detained
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“Barrick Gold Corp. and Mali’s military leadership have agreed to resolve a
dispute over the company’s assets in the West African nation. “Barrick and the
government of Mali have agreed to find a global resolution to the existing
claims and disputes between the government and Barrick’s Loulo and Gounkoto
gold mining companies,” the Toronto-based miner said in an emailed statement on
Monday. Details of the agreement will be made public once the terms of the
settlement have been finalized, according to the statement, which follows a
Reuters report of the arrest of four Barrick employees. Mali’s junta in 2023
adopted a new mining code that could see the government increase its stake to
35% in existing gold mines. Mining companies operating in Mali, including
Barrick – the world’s second-largest miner and one of Mali’s top gold
producers, has come under pressure from the military junta that took power in
2020, to adhere to the new law.”



France



Reuters: France Says It Is Sending Helicopter Carrier To Eastern Mediterranean
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“A French helicopter carrier will arrive in the eastern Mediterranean in the
next five to six days and take up position in case a decision is taken to
evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon, a French army spokesperson said on
Tuesday. Western nations have been weighing their options on how to get
nationals out of Lebanon safely if a full-scale war breaks out there, with
Cyprus and possibly Turkey seen as offering sanctuary to tens of thousands of
people. Israel said intense fighting had erupted with the Hezbollah movement in
south Lebanon after its paratroops and commandos launched raids there, at the
start of a ground incursion that followed airstrikes against Hezbollah's
leadership. France, which has about 20,000 citizens in Lebanon, sent its
Dixmude helicopter carrier from the naval port of Toulon to the region on
Monday, the French army spokesperson said.”



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