“Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers
and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border
strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says
targeted Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities on
Thursday reported 24 people killed. U.S. diplomats were in the region pushing
for cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the
Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. Pressure has
been building ahead of the U.S. election next week. In northern Gaza, Israeli
forces struck one of the last functioning hospitals, destroying much-needed
supplies that the World Heath Organization had delivered to the facility, the
U.N. agency said.”











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Eye on Extremism



November 1, 2024



Associated Press: Rocket Fire From Lebanon Kills 7 In Israel As US Officials
Try To Push For Cease-Fires
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“Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers
and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border
strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says
targeted Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities on
Thursday reported 24 people killed. U.S. diplomats were in the region pushing
for cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the
Middle East as the Biden administration enters its final months. Pressure has
been building ahead of the U.S. election next week. In northern Gaza, Israeli
forces struck one of the last functioning hospitals, destroying much-needed
supplies that the World Heath Organization had delivered to the facility, the
U.N. agency said.”



Reuters: Turkey Looks To End Kurdish PKK Conflict As Regional Instability Grows

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“Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics have prompted
the first bid in a decade to end Turkey's 40-year conflict with Kurdish
militants, but its chances of success are unclear as Ankara has given no clues
on what it may entail. Several politicians and analysts told Reuters that the
peace proposal by a close ally of Tayyip Erdogan has spurred both hope and
uncertainty as to how the president might proceed. Underlining how difficult it
will be to restart peace talks, after the last effort between Turkey and the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2013-2015, the PKK claimed responsibility for
a gun attack in Ankara last week that killed five people.”




Recent CEP Press Releases

*
Statement on the Death of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar
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One Year After October 7
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CEP Report: Civilian Counterterrorism Militias Take Action, Introduce New
Challenges To Combatting Violent Extremism In Africa
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Counter Extremism Project Statement Marking 9/11
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CEP Statement on U.S. Indictment of Hamas Leaders
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CEP Mentions



DW: Iran Looking For A New Military Strategy?
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“Two days after Israel's retaliatory attack on military targets in Iran,
Iran's government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani announced that the defense
budget would be increased by more than 200 percent. When presenting the budget
plan at a press conference on Tuesday (October 30), Mohajerani stressed: "We
have made every effort to meet the country's defense needs." However, the
spokeswoman did not give any concrete figures. […] "Israel has shown Iran that
it can, if it wants, carry out attacks on targets throughout Iran. It has used
its fighter jets for this purpose, all of which have returned unscathed,"
explains terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the transatlantic think
tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in an interview with DW.”



Tribune Juive: How Qatari Money Influences France’s Anti-Israel Policy
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“The recent quarrel between France, or more precisely President Emmanuel
Macron, and Israel seems to have a simple and plausible catalyst: money. Behind
the calls for an arms embargo on Israel, the support for the useless or even
harmful mission of UNIFIL, and the neo-colonial ambitions to “protect” Lebanon,
there are purely economic motives. These are both public and private economic
interests. […] According to experts from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP),
France has opted for a strategic partnership with Qatar. Only a fraction of
this alliance is transparent – in early 2024, the emirate has committed to
investing 10 billion euros in the French economy.”



United States



NBC News: When Does Free Speech Cross The Line Into Breaking U.S.
Anti-Terrorism Laws?
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“Charlotte Kates, a New Jersey native and Rutgers Law School graduate who
co-founded the pro-Hamas organization Samidoun, has become the focus of an
ongoing legal debate: When does free speech cross the line into breaking
federal anti-terrorism laws? Over the last year, Kates, who lives in Vancouver,
British Columbia, said she met with mid-level leaders of at least two
U.S.-designated terrorist organizations at a public conference in South Africa.
She also joined members of the groups in online seminars in which they urged
the audience to support Hamas and Hezbollah. “The Palestinian resistance and
the Lebanese resistance are not engaging in terrorism,” Kates told NBC News.
“They’re engaging in a national liberation struggle.””



CBS News: Suspect Faces Hate Crime, Terrorism Charges In Shooting Of Jewish
Man On Chicago's North Side
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“Authorities on Thursday announced terrorism and hate crime charges against
the man accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man in the West Ridge
neighborhood last weekend, and then opening fire on police and paramedics. Sidi
Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, had already faced six counts of attempted first-degree
murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated
battery. On Thursday, Police Supt. Larry Snelling announced Abdallahi also has
been charged with one felony count of terrorism and one felony count of a hate
crime. Police said Abdallahi shot a 39-year-old man in the 2600 block of West
Farwell Avenue in the West Ridge, or West Rogers Park, neighborhood around 9:30
a.m. on Saturday.”



Iran



Reuters: Iran Preparing Strike On Israel From Iraqi Territory Within Days,
Axios Reports
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“Israeli intelligence suggests Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi
territory in the coming days, possibly before the U.S. presidential election on
Nov. 5, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two unidentified Israeli sources.
The attack is expected to be carried out from Iraq using a large number of
drones and ballistic missiles, the Axios report added. The report said that
carrying out the attack through pro-Iran militias in Iraq could be an attempt
by Tehran to avoid another Israeli attack against strategic targets in Iran.
Israel and Iran have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat military strikes, part
of broader Middle East warfare set off by fighting in Gaza. On Saturday,
Israeli military jets struck missile factories and other sites near Tehran and
in western Iran in retaliation for Tehran's Oct. 1 barrage of more than 200
missiles against Israel.”



Iraq



Reuters: Iraq Tries To Avoid Regional Fight As Militias Fire At Israel
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“Nervously watching Israel's destructive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, Iraq
is working to avoid being drawn into the growing regional conflict as
Iran-backed armed groups launch attacks on Israel from Iraqi soil, sources
familiar with the matter say. Two decades after the U.S.-led invasion that
toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq is experiencing relative stability with high
revenue from oil sales funding a service-based agenda that has turned much of
the country into a construction site. Iraq does not have diplomatic relations
with Israel and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's government is wary of
regional conflicts that could affect its delicate balancing act between
Washington and Tehran, both states it is allied with.”



Turkey



Reuters: Kurdish PKK: What To Know About The Militants Fighting Turkey?
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The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group could potentially restart
peace talks with the Turkish government, after President Tayyip Erdogan's main
ally last week revived hopes of ending the 40-year-old conflict. But
underscoring the difficult road ahead, just one day after Erdogan's ally Devlet
Bahceli made his proposal, the PKK claimed responsibility for a deadly attack
on a defence industry firm in Ankara, prompting Turkey to hit back at the
militia in Iraq and Syria. Here are details about the group: The PKK is a
militant group founded by Abdullah Ocalan in southeast Turkey in 1978 with an
ideology based on Marxist-Leninist ideas. The PKK launched its insurgency
against Turkey in 1984 with the initial aim of creating an independent Kurdish
state.”



Afghanistan



Associated Press: The Taliban Say Blasts And Gunfire In Iran Targeted And
Killed At Least 2 Afghans Earlier This Month
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“Explosions and gunfire in Iran killed at least two Afghans earlier this
month, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said on Thursday. Iran has denied
any shooting took place near Saravan, a town in the country’s restive
southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which borders Taliban-ruled
Afghanistan. A high-ranking Taliban committee has been investigating the
incident for the past few weeks. Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said
the committee found that explosions and gunfire targeted Afghans in the Kalgan
Valley, within Iranian territory. He did not say who was responsible for the
attack. “As of now, the bodies of two martyrs and 34 eyewitnesses, some of whom
were injured in the incident, have been transported by the committee,” the
spokesman said.”



Lebanon



Reuters: In East Lebanon, Looming Winter Hints At Stretched Aid Response
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“Nerjes Hassan was so worried her children would fall ill from bathing in the
frigid water of a displacement shelter in northeast Lebanon that she drove back
into her hometown to give them a hot bath and pick up food preserves. While at
home on Wednesday morning in the town of Buday, near the eastern city of
Baalbek, an Israeli air strike killed her, her husband and her two children,
according to her coworkers and neighbours. Hassan, who worked for the Lebanese
Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) aid organisation, was among
thousands seeking refuge from Israeli strikes in the mountainous Christian town
of Deir al-Ahmar in eastern Lebanon. The town was already hosting more than
10,000 displaced people before Israel escalated its strikes on predominantly
Shi'ite Muslim Baalbek and nearby towns starting on Wednesday this week.”



Reuters: Israel Wants To Enforce Any Lebanon Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Tells
US Envoys
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“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. envoys on Thursday that
Israel's ability to counter threats to its security from Lebanon and return
displaced people to the north were key elements of any ceasefire deal with
Lebanon. He was speaking shortly after a Hezbollah attack on northern Israel's
Metula killed five people including an Israeli farmer and four foreign workers,
while two more civilians were killed by shrapnel near the town of Kiryat Ata,
Israeli authorities said. Meanwhile, Beirut said a series of Israeli strikes
had killed six health workers in southern Lebanon. "The main issue is ...
Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any
threat to its security from Lebanon," Netanyahu's office cited him as telling
two U.S. envoys.”



Middle East



Reuters: Israel Pounds Beirut's Southern Suburbs After US Truce Push
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“Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with a series of powerful
airstrikes early on Friday morning after issuing evacuation orders to
residents, in the first such strikes in days targeting the dense urban area,
Reuters witnesses said. The Israeli military said it was targetting Hezbollah
facilities and assets, an assertion that it has repeated over the course of
dozens of strikes over more than a month in the neighborhood where the
Iran-backed group holds sway. The strikes followed a renewed but as yet of
fruitless bout of U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at getting a ceasfire in Gaza and
Lebanon to stop over a year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed groups
Hamas and Hezbollah.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Israel and
Lebanon were moving toward understandings on what is required for implementing
a long-violated U.N. resolution, 1701, that would be the basis for ending the
current conflict.”



Reuters: At Least 46 Palestinians Killed In Israeli Strikes, Hospital Hit,
Says Gaza Ministry
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“At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the
Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital,
torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave's health
officials said. Israel's military has accused the Palestinian militant group
Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and
said "dozens of terrorists" have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas
deny the charge. Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the
Nuseirat camp in central Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, medics at
Al-Awda Hospital in the camp told Reuters. The dead included a paramedic and
two local journalists, they added. Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January
it had dismantled Hamas' command structure, is currently the main focus of the
military's assault in the enclave.”



Mali



The New York Times: How Wagner’s Ruthless Image Crumbled In Mali
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“For years, Russia has promoted the Wagner mercenary group to authoritarian
leaders in Africa as a force of fearsome warriors who could protect leaders’
grip on power and help their armies reclaim territories from armed groups. In
return, Moscow has gained access to resource-rich countries, dislodged Western
and U.N. troops and seeded influence across West and Central Africa to a degree
not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. But a major defeat for Wagner this
summer in northern Mali showed that its actual capabilities might be overstated
and unable to meet the ambitions of one of the group’s closest African
partners. The New York Times confirmed the deaths of at least 46 Wagner
fighters and 24 allied Malian soldiers by matching details seen in footage of
the corpses, such as uniforms and tattoos, with imagery of the soldiers when
they were alive.”



Germany



DW: Manhunt After Explosives Left At Berlin Station
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“Police were searching for a suspect on Thursday after he apparently dropped
a bag of explosives when confronted by officers at a Berlin train station on
Wednesday evening. A police officer told the daily Berliner Zeitung that "it
seems as if an attack has been prevented," as an explosion caused by the
contents of the bag would have had "dramatic consequences" if it occurred near
a group of people. The man ran away after he was subjected to a check by police
officers. Berlin police said the bag was reportedly destroyed at a nearby car
park in a controlled explosion. A police spokesman said results of an
examination of the explosives were not yet available. However, the
mass-circulation Bild daily said that the bag had contained triacetone
triperoxide, an explosive powder known often used in extremist attacks on the
public.”



Europe



Associated Press: Greek Police Say Fatal Athens Apartment Blast Was Likely
Caused By Improvised Bomb
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“Greek police said Friday that an explosion in an Athens apartment that
killed a man and severely wounded a woman appeared to have been caused by an
improvised bomb. Police searching the wrecked apartment seized two handguns and
ammunition, authorities said in a statement, as well as mobile phones and other
“digital evidence.” The statement added that the blast is being investigated by
the police’s special violent crimes unit. Firefighters who responded to the
explosion Thursday afternoon freed the wounded woman from the wreckage, and
later found the man’s body while using sniffer dogs to search the apartment for
other survivors, the fire service said.”



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