Eye on Extremism
October 22, 2024
BBC: Who Will Lead Hamas After Killing Of Yahya Sinwar?
“Two Hamas officials told the BBC discussions to choose a successor for the group's leader Yahya Sinwar, whose killing was confirmed on Thursday, will begin very soon. The officials said that Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar's deputy and the group's most senior official outside Gaza, is considered a strong candidate. Al-Hayya, who is based in Qatar, currently leads the Hamas delegation in ceasefire talks between the group and Israel, and possesses a deep knowledge, connection and understanding of the situation in Gaza. On Monday, a Hamas official told the BBC that the movement is likely to keep the identity of its new leader secret for security reasons. The movement did the same thing in 2003 following the assassination of then Hamas chief, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, by Israel and that of his successor, Dr Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. Hamas intends to elect a new leader in March of next year but until then it will be run by a five-member committee.”
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Hezbollah Fires Rockets Into Central Israel
“Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas but causing no apparent damage or injuries, a few hours before U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in the region on a mission to restart stalled Gaza ceasefire talks. The Israeli military said five projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel and said most were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system. One landed in an open area. The rocket fire came as Israel stepped up its strikes in Lebanon, targeting a Hezbollah-run financial institution, and as the U.S. pushed to resume cease-fire talks in Gaza following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group.”
CEP Mentions
WTOP News: The Story Behind Yahya Sinwar’s Killing
“Hans Jakob Schindler, Sr. Director at the Counter Extremism Project discusses how Israeli forces found Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the circumstances of his death.”
NTV: "Deportation As A Solution Is A Double-Edged Sword"
“Why do German security services often only become aware of potential threats when they receive information from abroad? Does deportation automatically end the threat of terrorism? Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler examines these questions in an interview with ntv.”
ZDFheute: Where Hezbollah Gets Its Money
“... Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think tank Counter Extremism Project (CDP) explains on ZDFheute live how the terrorist organization finances itself, how much money Hezbollah needs and what the international community has done so far to combat terrorist financing. Hezbollah's financial needs are met primarily by three aspects. A large part of the financial support comes from Iran, both in the form of money and weapons, said Schindler. Other criminal sources of income for Hezbollah include extortion of Lebanese businessmen abroad. However, in the last 15 years, another business has become very relevant.”
Welt: “The Perpetrator Had Obviously Sought Advice From IS Professionals From Abroad”
“A 28-year-old Libyan apparently planned an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin. "The perpetrator had sought advice on how to carry out the attack, but had not yet procured the weapons," says security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.”
United States
Associated Press: Blinken Arrives In Israel As Us Looks To Renew Cease-Fire Efforts After The Killing Of Hamas Leader
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday on his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. hopes to revive cease-fire efforts after the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but so far all the warring parties appear to be digging in. Israel is still at war with Hamas more than a year after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, where it launched a ground invasion earlier this month. Israel is also expected to strike Iran in response to its ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. Blinken landed just hours after Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas and its international airport, but causing no apparent damage or injuries. The Israeli military said it intercepted most of the five projectiles, with one landing in an open area.”
Syria
Reuters: Two Killed In Missile Attack On Car In Syrian Capital, State Media Say
“At least two people were killed and three others injured on Monday in an apparent guided missile attack on a car in the Mazzeh area of Damascus, Syrian state television said, quoting a military source. The source attributed the attack to Israel. The attack occurred near the Eastern Roundabout, close to the Golden Mazzeh Hotel, a high-end establishment in the centre of Syria's capital, state media added. An Israeli military spokesman later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed the head of Hezbollah's money transfers unit. "We will continue to act against Hezbollah in Syria and everywhere else," Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said in a televised statement.”
Iran
Bloomberg: Iran Denies Interfering In Lebanon’s Affairs After Beirut Rebuke
“Iran denied interfering in Lebanese affairs after comments by a senior official sparked a political backlash in Beirut, in a rare rift between the two countries. Iran has “never interfered” in the internal affairs of Lebanon or any other country, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a press conference in Tehran. His comments came after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf received a public rebuke from Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati last week for saying Tehran could negotiate with France on the implementation of a 2006 UN resolution that envisaged the withdrawal of the Hezbollah militant group from parts of southern Lebanon. Mikati described the comments as “blatant interference.” Iran will speak with “any country” that has proposals for how to stop Israel’s military operations in Lebanon and Gaza, Baghaei said on Monday.”
Middle East
Associated Press: Israel Says More Strikes Are Coming Against A Hezbollah-Run Financial Institution
“Israel said late Monday it planned to carry out more strikes in Lebanon against a Hezbollah-run financial institution that it targeted the night before and which it says uses customers’ deposits to finance attacks against Israel. At least 15 branches of Al-Qard Al-Hasan were hit late Sunday in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, across southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. One strike flattened a nine-story building in Beirut with a branch inside it. The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes, and there were no reports of casualties. Associated Press journalists witnessed strikes late Monday in the coastal region of Ouzai, near Beirut’s airport, and Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an airstrike near Beirut’s largest public hospital killed four, including a child, and wounded 24.”
Reuters: War Knocked Human Development In Gaza Back To 1955, UNDP Says
“The war in Gaza has devastated the Palestinian economy, which is now 35% smaller than it was at the start of Israel's invasion a year ago, while development levels in Gaza itself have collapsed to the level of the 1950s, the UN's development agency said. Launching a new study on the socioeconomic impacts of the war, which Palestinian officials say has claimed more than 42,500 lives, opens new tab, the UNDP's Chitose Noguchi said that by some measures the region's poverty level was now approaching 100% as a result of the disruption, with unemployment now at 80%. "The state of Palestine is experiencing unprecedented levels of setbacks," she said over a crackling line from Deir Al-Balah. "For Gaza, reversing development by an estimated 70 years to 1955."”
Jewish News Syndicate: US: Israel-Hamas Hostage Talks Still Stalled After Sinwar Killing
“Negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a hostages-for-ceasefire-and-terrorists-release deal have yet to resume since Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s Oct. 16 death, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. “I cannot sit here today and tell you that negotiations are about to restart in Doha or Cairo, or anywhere else for that matter,” Kirby told reporters at a virtual briefing, adding that “we have started to begin to think about it here and had some initial conversations with our Israeli counterparts, as you would expect we would, in the wake of that truly historic news. “We have certainly expressed, as the president did publicly, our strong desire to see what can be done to find a diplomatic path forward here to get the hostages home,” the senior White House official said.”
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