"In past columns, I have explored the psychology of conspiracy theories and extremism, as well as focusing on extremist groups such as the Boogaloo Boys and QAnon. This month, I wanted to explore the transnational extremist group, known as the Active Club. In September 2023, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) referred to them as a racist group 'hiding in plain sight'. The Active Club network in Canada is, in part, a recruiting front for the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead gang with a decades-long history of violence"

"Israel announced Sunday that it had 'eliminated' four senior Hamas military leaders. In this week’s episode of 'The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green', Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, elaborates on who these men were."

"Hans-Jakob Schindler, a senior director of the Counter Extremism Project non-profit, told BI that groups like the PIJ may seek to play the situation to its advantage.

'Hamas cannot just order those hostages to be handed over, especially since all of the others understand that the hostages could be very valuable for them as well,' he said."

"The hostage situation has shown that Hamas’ control over Gaza is not absolute, said Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter-Extremism Project, a policy institute based in Washington and Berlin.

Schindler said he believes Hamas enlisted the aid of the PIJ and organized crime groups in Gaza for the raid, but that the groups are competing when it comes to the hostages."

CEP Senior Advisor Alexander Ritzmann interviewed on podcast for topic: "We shed light on the different sources of funding within the right-wing extremist scene, the partial connections to organized crime, the relationship between rocker groups and brotherhoods as well as networks and structures and address the connection between personal economic interests and the connection to the overarching ideology. Current developments in the wake of the recent club bans and self-dissolution of brotherhoods will also be discussed."

"Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington."

"Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the transatlantic thinktank the Counter Extremism Project, says the situation is .terribly unclear'.

'It's important to note that Islamic Jihad and Hamas don't have a co-operative relationship - they're actually competitors,' he tells Sky News. 'So it's not entirely clear if Hamas can get Islamic Jihad to release any of the hostages it may be holding.

'And it seems it wasn't just them and Hamas involved in the 7 October attack.

'There's been a well-developed smuggling economy in Gaza for decades - long before Hamas took control - organised by networks of crime families.

'So it's possible hostages are neither under the control of Hamas nor Islamic Jihad - but these crime organisations.'"

"According to the Washington-based Counter Extremism project, in addition to being a key figure in the October 7 attacks , Ghandour has been behind a number of terror attacks against Israelis and survived at least two assassination attempts dating back to 2002 and 2012."

"'There’s been a well-developed smuggling economy in Gaza for decades – long before Hamas took control – organised by networks of crime families. So it’s possible hostages are neither under the control of Hamas nor Islamic Jihad – but these crime organisations,' Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the transatlantic thinktank the Counter Extremism Project, told Sky News."

"Terrorism and extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Berlin sees the first releases as a 'confidence-building measure between Hamas and Israel.' In his opinion, the negotiations will now become more difficult with each hostage: Hamas will demand that more Palestinian prisoners be released per hostage and the crimes committed by those held will also become more serious. Hamas will demand a very high price, especially for the release of hostages who belong to the Israeli military, said Schindler in the ZDF morning magazine."