Eye on Extremism
October 17, 2024
Reuters: Israeli Fire Kills 11 In Gaza City As Its Forces Tighten Siege In The North
“Israeli airstrikes killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, medics said, while Israeli forces sent tanks into Jabalia in the north, where Palestinians and United Nations officials expressed alarm over shortages of food and medicine. Residents of Jabalia said Israeli forces blew up clusters of houses from air, by tank shells and by placing bombs in buildings before blowing them up remotely. Gaza's civil emergency service said it evacuated several wounded people from a school sheltering displaced Palestinians that caught fire after being hit by Israeli tank shells. Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families with permission to heed evacuation orders and leave the three towns.”
Reuters: French Cement Maker Lafarge To Face Trial On Terrorism Funding Charges
“Cement maker Holcim's Lafarge will face trial in a French court on charges that its Syrian subsidiary financed terrorism and breached European sanctions in order to keep a plant operating, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor and a lead plaintiff said. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, has been the subject of an investigation into its operations in Syria since 2016, one of the most extensive corporate criminal proceedings in recent French legal history. Investigative judges in Paris gave the order Lafarge face trial on Wednesday. In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, Lafarge said it acknowledged the decision of the investigating judges. Holcim shares fell nearly 2% in late Wednesday trading after the news, before recovering a little to close 0.7% lower. Investigations continue into allegations that Lafarge was complicit in crimes against humanity, part of the wider probe into how the group kept its factory running in Syria after war broke out in 2011, said the anti-corruption group Sherpa, which brought the criminal complaint against Lafarge.”
CEP Mentions
The Foundation For Defense Of Democracies: Interview With CEP Senior Advisor Edmund Fitton-Brown
“Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis ... and all eyes on the skies over Iran. Catch Jonathan Schanzer’s discussion on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Morning Brief w/ terrorism expert Edmund Fitton-Brown. We’ve got lots of ground to cover on Iran's terror network, so make sure to tune in.”
United States
Associated Press: His Country Trained Him To Fight. Then He Turned Against It. More Like Him Are Doing The Same
"The U.S. military trained him in explosives and battlefield tactics. Now the Iraq War veteran and enlisted National Guard member was calling for taking up arms against police and government officials in his own country. Standing in the North Carolina woods, Chris Arthur warned about a coming civil war. Videos he posted publicly on YouTube bore titles such as “The End of America or the Next Revolutionary War.” In his telling, the U.S. was falling into chaos and there would be only one way to survive: kill or be killed. Arthur was posting during a surge of far-right extremism in the years leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He wrote warcraft training manuals to help others organize their own militias. And he offered sessions at his farm in Mount Olive, North Carolina, that taught how to kidnap and attack public officials, use snipers and explosives and design a “fatal funnel” booby trap to inflict mass casualties."
Iran
Voice Of America: Iran's Border Security Forces Allegedly Massacre 'Dozens' Of Afghan Migrants
“Taliban authorities are looking into allegations that dozens of Afghan civilians were killed and injured by Iranian border forces while trying to enter that country from Pakistan illegally. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy Taliban spokesperson in Kabul, said Wednesday that "various governmental bodies" and Afghan diplomatic missions have initiated "comprehensive investigations" to verify the reported casualties. “As the incident is reported to have occurred beyond Afghanistan’s borders, the available information remains unverified,” Fitrat noted in his English-language statement posted on social media platform X. He added that a “conclusive decision” would be made after a “thorough clarification of the facts.” The Taliban probe was announced after an Iranian rights group, known as Halvash, initially reported the alleged Afghan casualties, saying they occurred Sunday in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan border province.”
Reuters: Iran Warns Israel Against Retaliation For Missile Attack
“The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards warned Israel on Thursday against attacking the Islamic Republic in retaliation for a missile barrage as the Israeli military stepped up its offensive in Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah. Fears of a wider Middle East conflict have grown as Israel plans its response to the Oct. 1 missile attack carried out by Iran after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-allied militants. "We tell you (Israel) that if you commit any aggression against any point we will painfully attack the same point of yours," Hossein Salami said in a televised speech, adding that Iran can penetrate Israel's defences.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday about Israel's operations in Lebanon and Gaza, aiming to avert a regional war. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, on a Middle East tour, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, with Sisi reiterating Egypt's call to avoid an expansion of the conflict, the Egyptian presidency said.”
Afghanistan
Fox News: Taliban Begins Enforcing Rule Banning ‘Images Of Living Beings’ In Afghan Media
"The Taliban is reportedly enforcing a ban against certain media outlets airing "images of living beings" in Afghanistan. An Afghan official confirmed the news to the Associated Press on Tuesday. The militant group, through its Vice and Virtue Ministry, is currently enforcing the rule in certain provinces, and it is unclear when or if it will apply to all media outlets across the country, including foreign media. The new rule reflects laws announced by the Vice and Virtue Ministry in August, which also banned women's voices and bare faces. The legislation marked the first declaration of such rules in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over after the U.S. withdrawal."
Yemen
NBC News: U.S. Strikes Houthi Weapons Storage Facilities In Yemen
“U.S. B-2 bombers and other aircraft struck five underground Houthi weapons storage locations in parts of Yemen that the Iranian-backed rebel group controls, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. The facilities, which officials said were hardened, housed "various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region," Austin said. Houthi rebels have attacked civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The group was suspected in an attack in August. The strikes were the first time the U.S. has used B-2 bombers, also known as stealth bombers, in strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, a U.S. official told NBC News. "This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified," Austin said in a statement.”
Middle East
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Israeli Jets Pummel Southern Lebanon And Beirut’s Suburbs
“Israeli jets struck southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday, killing at least 27 people including a city mayor, Lebanese officials said. Hezbollah acting leader Sheikh Naim Kassem declared Tuesday that the Lebanese militant group would ramp up attacks on Israel in response to an Israeli airstrike Monday on an apartment building in northern Lebanon that killed at least 22 people. Israel said it struck a target belonging to Hezbollah, but the United Nations called for an independent investigation. Israel has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks, after a year of near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire. It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250.”
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: An Israeli Strike Wounds 2 Civilians, Syrian Military Says
“Syria’s military says Israel wounded two civilians and damaged a military post a strike early Thursday in the coastal city of Latakia, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Lebanese border. Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks, after a year of near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire. Lebanon says more than 2,300 people have been killed in the past year and 77% of public schools are out of service, either due to their use as shelters or their location in areas directly affected by the war. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians.”
United Kingdom
POLITICO: UK ‘Looking At’ Sanctions For ‘Extremist’ Israeli Ministers
"The U.K. is considering imposing sanctions on two extremist Israeli ministers, Keir Starmer confirmed Wednesday. The prime minister said the government would examine the possibility of sanctioning two far-right Israeli government ministers — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — over past “abhorrent” remarks by the pair. Smotrich said in August that the starvation of two million people in Gaza might be “justified and moral” in order to free Israeli hostages. Ben-Gvir praised settlers suspected of killing a Palestinian as “heroes,” and backed protests against aid convoys reaching Gaza."
Reuters: UK Counter-Terrorism Police Investigating Warehouse Fire
"British counter-terrorism police are investigating a warehouse fire in July caused when a package caught alight, and are liaising with other European law enforcement agencies to see if there is a connection with similar incidents elsewhere. On Tuesday, German prosecutors said they were investigating several fires caused by incendiary devices hidden inside parcels at a warehouse in Leipzig earlier this year. Britain's Counter Terrorism Policing unit said in a statement that local emergency services dealt with a fire caused by a package on July 22, and that there were no reports of injuries or significant damage. "Due to the circumstances, and the specialist capability and expertise in investigating such matters, the investigation is being led by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command," a spokesperson said."
France
Voice Of America: FBI, French Authorities Coordinate On Islamic State Arrests
“Recent arrests in the United States and in Europe have law enforcement and intelligence agencies on alert, bolstering concerns about a reinvigorated Islamic State terror group bent on lashing out against the West. FBI officials Wednesday confirmed the bureau shared information with French authorities following last week’s arrest of 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan national in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on charges connected to a mass shooting plot in the name of the Islamic State group, to coincide with the U.S. election in November. That information led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Afghan national in the Haute-Garonne region of France, who French officials say is linked to Tawhedi. That arrest followed the arrests of three other men in the same region, again carried out in coordination with the U.S.”
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