CEP Managing Director Dan Roth writes: The 30-day countdown to the automatic reintroduction of U.N. sanctions against Iran—the “snapback”—has begun. Triggered by Britain, France and Germany (the E3), this long-overdue decision is a response to Tehran’s repeated violations of the 2015 nuclear deal. What matters now is that Europe stands firm and sees the process through.

Shapiro’s address to the Eradicate Hate Global Summit was the first time a politician in office addressed the conference in its five-year history. A day earlier, the summit announced a collaboration with the Counter Extremism Project on the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization, in which the former residence of the concentration camp’s commandant will be converted to a center combatting extremism and violence.

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."

Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremisms Project (CEP) in Berlin, sees a worrying trend: "The willingness to use violence in the right-wing extremist scene is increasing significantly," he said in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper published by Ippen.Media.

Germany maintains only limited economic relations with oil-rich Iraq – not least because of existing sanctions against Iran. However, many goods such as consumer goods and pharmaceuticals are unaffected, says Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit political organization. The security expert advises German companies to conduct their business with Iraq in euros whenever possible.

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed about a German Islamist influencer on TikTok: “Former boxer Hanna Hansen promotes an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam on social media and maintains contacts within the German Salafist scene. What makes her videos so appealing? A conversation with journalist Joseph Röhmel.”

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.”

The shift toward a more violent rhetoric within the incel community began in 2003 with the founding of a new incel website called LoveShy, where the community became almost exclusively male.

“At least one of the website’s moderators openly praised mass murderers and reportedly encouraged other members to commit murder,” noted a Counter Extremism Project report.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Counter Extremism Project, agreed, saying this is "entirely possible", as many ships from the so-called "shadow fleet" regularly traverse the Baltic Sea.

If this is the case, Schindler pointed out, it raises questions about how the ships are monitored and whether authorities have the capacity to keep track of them, given the size of the Baltic and the sheer number of vessels.

"This is not your average neo-Nazi group. They don't act suddenly. Their strategy is to grow, so when a leader they can support emerges, they can protect him," says Alexander Ritzmann. "That's why I call them a 'shadow militia'. Because they want to show the authorities that they are just racists who play sports. The background, however, is completely different," he says. Alexander Ritzmann has been researching extremism for several years at the American organization Counter Extremism Project. In his research, Active Clubs have made an impression on him in recent years, while branches have spread from the United States to Europe.