“Israel targeted Hezbollah’s likely successor to slain leader Hassan Nasrallah
with heavy airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday, as it continues to
try to dismantle the Lebanese militant group’s leadership structure. The
attempt on Hashim Safieddine was the latest in a series of aggressive Israeli
attacks on the group, including an intelligence operation that caused thousands
of electronic devices carried by Hezbollah to explode at roughly the same time,
an airstrike that killed most of the leadership of the group’s elite Radwan
force, and an air campaign that has hit more than 3,000 targets across Lebanon.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Safieddine had been killed. Israel on
Friday hit Beirut’s southern suburbs with a number of intense airstrikes
causing large explosions that leveled several buildings in the Lebanese
capital.”











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Eye on Extremism



October 4, 2024



The Wall Street Journal: Heavy Israeli Airstrikes Target Likely Successor To
Hezbollah Leader In Beirut
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“Israel targeted Hezbollah’s likely successor to slain leader Hassan Nasrallah
with heavy airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday, as it continues to
try to dismantle the Lebanese militant group’s leadership structure. The
attempt on Hashim Safieddine was the latest in a series of aggressive Israeli
attacks on the group, including an intelligence operation that caused thousands
of electronic devices carried by Hezbollah to explode at roughly the same time,
an airstrike that killed most of the leadership of the group’s elite Radwan
force, and an air campaign that has hit more than 3,000 targets across Lebanon.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Safieddine had been killed. Israel on
Friday hit Beirut’s southern suburbs with a number of intense airstrikes
causing large explosions that leveled several buildings in the Lebanese
capital.”



Bloomberg: Israel’s Fight With Islamist Groups Puts Arab World In Dilemma
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“The crowd of several hundred men, women and children roared as speakers took
turns to praise Hamas commanders and other Iran-backed militants like
Hezbollah. “We bear a Koran and a knife,” shouted a young boy wearing a black
bandana, standing on a makeshift stage in the street as security forces looked
on. “They say Hamas is a terrorist group, but all of Jordan is Hamas!” The
scene in the Jordanian capital of Amman is a near daily occurrence nowadays,
and it encapsulates the dilemma facing Israel’s neighbors as the Middle East
stands on the brink of a widening war. Israel is vowing to retaliate against
Iran for targeting it with almost 200 ballistic missiles on Tuesday night. That
followed an escalation of Israel’s campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah,
Iran’s main proxy militia group, including the killing of its leader.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

* Counter Extremism Project Statement Marking 9/11
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* Premiere of New Documentary on UANI's Role in the U.S. Seizure of the Suez
Rajan Coincide with UNGA
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* CEP Statement on U.S. Indictment of Hamas Leaders
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* Extremist Content Online: Active Clubs Celebrate "Frontier" Boxing and MMA
Event, White Supremacist CashApp Fundraiser Removed, White Power Webstore
Advertises on Telegram
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*
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CEP Statement on Executions of Hostages by Hamas
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CEP Mentions



The Guardian: Far-Right Extremists Flee From Telegram To SimpleX Over Privacy
Features
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“...”Rightwing extremist propagandists have been looking for a Telegram
alternative for several years,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, analyst at the
Counter Extremism Project, who first alerted the Guardian to the SimpleX
migration of far-right extremists. “This is the most significant platform
change for these specific, extreme, privacy-focused online white supremacist
communities to date.” Fisher-Birch said that paranoia among neo-Nazi-aligned
Telegram channels and the need to find an alternative to that app, soared when
US authorities announced the September arrests of two of Terrorgram’s main
American operatives. “If these current channels are allowed to remain on the
SimpleX platform, it will likely signal to others that the platform is secure
and a good alternative,” he said.”



Tagesspiegel: Hamas Leader Still At Large, Israel Hunts Jihia Sinwar, The
Architect Of October 7
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“There is a lot of speculation, but hardly any precise information. Since
October 7, Israel has been hunting Jihia Sinwar , one of the masterminds of the
massacre that the terrorist organization carried out in Israel that day. More
than 1,200 people were brutally murdered, more than 250 were kidnapped in the
Gaza Strip. And the Hamas leader is still at large. […] To find out details
about his whereabouts, one would have to be a member of the Israeli or American
security apparatus, says Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the
international Counter Extremism Project and head of its office in Berlin. "In
my opinion, Sinwar is still in the Gaza Strip, or rather in the tunnels under
the Gaza Strip ," Schindler told the Tagesspiegel.”



Irish Star: Israel Issued Stark Warning As Tensions And Violence Escalate In
Middle East
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“Israel received a stark warning that it "cannot wipe out Hezbollah" amidst
its operation in Lebanon, which took a more dramatic turn with a ground
invasion. In the twilight hours of Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)
broadcasted their incursion over the Lebanese frontier, describing the
initiative as "limited, localized and targeted" offensives aimed at Hezbollah.
[…] Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project and
formerly UKs ambassador to Yemen, echoed these apprehensions, cautioning about
the additional dangers posed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which form another
component of Irans "axis of resistance that might expand the already tenuous
situation across the Middle East.“



Afghanistan



The Independent: Yazidi Woman Kidnapped At 11 And Held Hostage In Gaza By Isis
Militant For A Decade Finally Rescued
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“A 21-year-old Yazidi woman who was held captive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip
and subjected to years of abuse by an Isis militant she was forced to marry,
was finally reunited with her family. The rescue of Fawzia Amin Sido, who was
11-years-old when she was abducted from her home in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan
region in August 2014 following an Isis attack on the religious minority,
involved a secret, intricate, and multi-state operation. The terror group
killed around 10,000 Yazidi people, whose faith draws from Zoroastrianism, and
are predominantly based in Iraq and Syria. The attack also led to the
kidnapping and exploitation of thousands of Yazidi women, who were coerced into
sex slavery. Following the abduction, Ms Sido was held captive in the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for several years, subjected to years of sexual and
physical abuse by her Palestinian Isis husband.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Pakistan Capital Locked Down, Phone Service Suspended To
Stop Rally By Party Of Ex-Leader Imran Khan
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“Pakistani authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways
leading to the capital and suspended cellphone service in Islamabad on Friday
in an attempt to prevent supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran
Khan from holding a rally seeking his release. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s
government also deployed paramilitary rangers and additional police and shut
schools in Islamabad and the nearby city of Rawalpindi after Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf party refused to withdraw its call for the protest. Videos
posted online showed police placing shipping containers on bridges and roads on
a key highway in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party
holds power. Khan’s supporters plan to march from the province to Islamabad,
defying a ban on rallies imposed this week.”



Lebanon



The Washington Post: 28 Health-Care Workers Killed In Lebanon In Past Day, WHO
Says, As Scope Of Israeli Invasion Widens
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“World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
Thursday that at least 28 health-care workers in Lebanon have been killed in
the past 24 hours. Israel continued to carry out strikes on Beirut, killing at
least nine people overnight, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Thursday, and
Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for a swath of southern Lebanese
villages, an indication that the scope of the invasion could continue to widen.
Lebanon’s military said two of its soldiers were killed Thursday in Israeli
attacks — the first deaths of Lebanese soldiers in a ground offensive that
Israel says is directed at Hezbollah, not the Lebanese people or state.
Lebanese forces said they returned fire, in the first such instance since the
Israeli ground operation began. Israel said a soldier died fighting in Lebanon
on Thursday, bringing its confirmed death toll to nine.”



Reuters: Israeli Strike Closes Off Road Used To Flee Lebanon To Syria,
Lebanese Transport Minister Says
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“An Israeli strike on Friday morning near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing
with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee
Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told
Reuters. Hamieh said the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the border
crossing, creating a four-metre (12 feet) wide crater. An Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) military spokesman had accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Thursday
of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon. "The IDF
will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if
forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war," IDF spokesman Avichay
Adraee said on X.



Middle East



Reuters: Israeli Military Says It Killed Head Of Hamas Network In West Bank's
Tulkarm
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“The Israeli military said early on Friday it killed the head of the Hamas
network in a strike on West Bank's Tulkarm. In a statement, the military
identified the Hamas operative as Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.”



Somalia



Reuters: US, Allies Discuss 'Urgent Need' To Finalize Plans For New African
Union Mission In Somalia
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“The United States and four other countries discussed the need to finalize
plans for the new African Union stabilization and support mission in Somalia,
the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Thursday. The department
said the U.S., Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom
also discussed the urgency of finalizing funding options for the new mission.
The meeting among the U.S. and the other countries took place on Oct. 1, the
department said.”



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