“An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven
Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas
of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late
September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital. There was no
warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central
Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s
office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members
were killed. The strike came after at least eight Israeli soldiers were killed
in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start
of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The region was
meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic
missile attack.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 3, 2024



Associated Press: Rare Israeli Strike In Central Beirut Kills 7 As Troops
Battle Hezbollah In Southern Lebanon
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“An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven
Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas
of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late
September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital. There was no
warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central
Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s
office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members
were killed. The strike came after at least eight Israeli soldiers were killed
in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start
of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The region was
meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic
missile attack.”



Associated Press: Four Iraqi Soldiers Killed In Islamic State Group Ambush
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“Four Iraqi troops were killed Wednesday and several wounded in an ambush by
the extremist Islamic State group, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said. The attack
came days after the U.S. military announced that troops from its coalition
against IS in Iraq and Syria will withdraw from Iraqi territory next year but
maintain a presence in Syria until 2026. Despite IS losing its so-called
caliphate where it controlled large swaths of land in Iraq and eastern Syria in
2019, it continues to launch attacks through its scattered cells, which this
year have nearly doubled, and tries to recruit more people. According to
CENTCOM, IS claimed 153 attacks in the two countries in the first six months of
2024. It said it killed 37 IS and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in eastern
Syria in two strikes. Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Miqdad Miri said three
soldiers were wounded while troops from the 42nd Brigade’s Intelligence Unit
were on a reconnaissance mission in a rugged area near the northern city of
Kirkuk.”



CEP Mentions



The Guardian: Iran’s ‘Axis Of Resistance’ Call For Further Attacks On Israel
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“... Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior adviser to the Counter-Extremism Project, a
transatlantic thinktank and advocacy group, said it was predictable that the
Houthis and other groups would make such threats. “We shouldn’t read too much
into the rhetoric … the Palestinian groups do not have the capability to
escalate outside the [occupied] West Bank, while the Israelis have been so
successful in last couple of weeks that I don’t think Lebanese Hezbollah can
come to Iran’s defence.” Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s proxies and the
keystone of the coalition, is reeling from the Israeli assassination campaign.
The group has lost nearly 500 fighters since it started firing into Israel in
support of its ally, Hamas, last October and was then drawn into a prolonged
war of attrition.”



Express: Israel Warned ‘It Can’t Fully Defeat Hezbollah’ As First Soldiers Die
Fighting In Tunnels
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“Israel has been issued a shocking warning that it "cannot wipe out Hezbollah"
with its campaign in Lebanon that recently escalated to a ground invasion. […]
Edmund Fitton-Brown, senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project and the
UK's former ambassador to Yemen, added to these concerns. He pointed to the
Yemeni Houthi rebels, another arm of Iran's "axis of resistance", as a further
threat to consider as the conflict in the Middle East potentially spreads.
Fitton-Brown noted the importance of both groups, but maintained Hezbollah as
the more "crucial Iranian asset", adding the worrying warning that it cannot be
stopped by Israel. He told the Daily Express: "The Houthis and Lebanese
Hezbollah are both important to Iran for different reasons. Neither one can
replace the other.”



United States



Fox News: Illegal Immigrants With 'Terrorism Ties' Will Continue To Exploit
Border, Homeland Security Report Warns
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“Illegal immigrants with "terrorism ties" are expected to exploit the U.S.
border as the threat environment remains high, the Department of Homeland
Security warned Wednesday. The agency detailed a number of warnings in its
annual Homeland Threat Assessment, which is used to inform local, state and
federal agencies about public safety and security threats, saying the
"terrorism threat environment" over the next year "will remain high." "Over the
next year, we expect some individuals with terrorism ties and some criminal
actors will continue their efforts to exploit migration flows and the complex
border security environment to enter the United States," the assessment states.
"Individuals with potential terrorism connections continue to attempt to enter
the Homeland at both the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders and also through the
immigration system," it continued.”



Yemen



Reuters: Houthis Warn Shipowners In New Phase Of Red Sea Campaign: Prepare To
Be Attacked
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“On a warm spring night in Athens, shortly before midnight, a senior executive
at a Greek shipping company noticed an unusual email had landed in his personal
inbox. The message, which was also sent to the manager's business email
address, warned that one of the company's vessels traveling through the Red Sea
was at risk of being attacked by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militia. The
Greek-managed ship had violated a Houthi-imposed transit ban by docking at an
Israeli port and would be "directly targeted by the Yemeni Armed Forces in any
area they deem appropriate," read the message, written in English and reviewed
by Reuters. "You bear the responsibility and consequences of including the
vessel in the ban list," said the email, signed by the Yemen-based Humanitarian
Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), a body set up in February to liaise
between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators.”



Lebanon



Reuters: Israel Strikes Heart Of Beirut, Iranian President Is Defiant
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“Israel's military said it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon on
Thursday and bombed Beirut after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the
Lebanese front in a year of clashes with the Iran-backed group. Israel, which
has been fighting with Hamas in Gaza for almost a year, sent its troops into
southern Lebanon after two weeks of intense airstrikes, in an escalating
conflict that risks drawing in the United States and Iran. On Thursday,
Israel's military said it had "eliminated" Rawhi Mushtaha, the head of the
Hamas government in Gaza, along with senior security officials Sameh al-Siraj
and Sami Oudeh in strikes three months ago. In Lebanon, an airstrike on the
municipality building of the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil killed 15
Hezbollah members, Israel said. Lebanon's health ministry said the death toll
in the Beirut strike had climbed to nine and the Islamic Health Authority, a
Hezbollah-linked civil defense group, said seven of its staff including two
medics had been killed.”



Reuters: EU Announces Extra 30 Mln Euros Humanitarian Aid For Lebanon
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“The European Commission announced on Thursday an extra 30 million euros
($33.1 million) in humanitarian aid for Lebanon, which has been hit by clashes
between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. "I am extremely concerned by the
constant escalation of tensions in the Middle East. All parties must do their
outmost to protect the lives of innocent civilians," said European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen. This comes in addition to the 10 million euros
already announced on Sept. 29 and brings total EU humanitarian assistance to
the country to over 104 million euros this year.”



Europe



Reuters: Behind Closed Doors, Russia Tries Four Journalists For Links To
Navalny Team
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“Four Russian journalists went on trial in Moscow on Wednesday on charges of
involvement in an "extremist" group after authorities accused them of working
for the banned organisation of the late dissident Alexei Navalny. The cases
against Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov and Artem Kriger
highlight the increasingly precarious position of journalists inside Russia,
where press freedom groups say dozens are currently behind bars. After about 30
minutes of open proceedings in court, the judge granted a prosecution request
to evict press and spectators for the remainder of the trial on the basis of a
letter from the counter-extremism department of the interior ministry that
Navalny supporters were preparing "provocations". Independent news outlet
Mediazona quoted Kriger as telling the judge before journalists were ordered
from the room: "This is just some kind of archaism. This is how they do it in
totalitarian regimes."”



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