CEP senior research analyst Josh Lipowsky told the Jewish Standard: “Over the past week or two we have seen a significant blow to the Iranian influence on the region,” Mr. Lipowsky said. “Look at Lebanon. The Lebanese prime minister, Nawaf Salam, declared last week that all of Hezbollah’s military activity was illegal. A few days after that, he called for the arrest of all IRCG officers operating in Lebanon.” The IRCG is the Iranian Islamic Military Guard. “These are steps that would have been unthinkable just last year.”

"Once again, Persia is trying to wipe out the Jews," said Lipowsky, a research analyst for the Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit with offices in New York. "We're getting our own live reenactment of the Purim story."

For many Israelis, the blare of the siren and race to shelter has become an all-too-familiar ritual in recent years. The alarms went off throughout Saturday, Sunday and Monday, after the attack on Iran by America and Israel.

Counter Extremism Project Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: Israel's ground assault on Gaza City is supposed to wipe out Hamas's remaining strongholds. But the group has shown remarkable resilience over nearly two years of war and may even be gaining new recruits.

 

Israel's military assumes that there are up to 3,000 combat-ready members of Hamas in the city of Gaza. In total, the terrorist organization still has 16,000 to 18,000 fighters. "However, there is currently no longer any organized 'military' resistance by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The terrorists sometimes attack an Israeli tank with a rocket, sometimes they lay a booby trap," Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team. "In the beginning, Hamas still had real combat units, a kind of army with an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers. Now it operates with cells that lure Israeli soldiers into an ambush and then retreat again. Parts of the underground tunnel system still exist as escape routes."

According to the Counter Extremism Project, the Muslim Brotherhood “has had a profound influence on the belief system that fuels al-Qaeda and ISIS. These groups share ideological underpinnings based on the writings of the late Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb.”

Israel is conducting airstrikes on Damascus, while fighting rages in the Druze city of Suwayda. Middle East expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler explains how these events are connected, the role of the fragile transitional government, and Israel's strategic goals.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed war and escalating global tensions between Israel and Iran. As we progress with the hazard topic of global threats in season 3, this week we feature Josh Lipowsky, the senior research analyst at the Counter Extremism Project.

On Monday morning, Iran and Israel confirmed that they had agreed to a ceasefire, which was apparently violated. Does Germany nevertheless have to prepare for a greater threat from Iran in the future? t-online asked terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler [CEP Senior Director].