Eye on Extremism: April 30, 2026
Top Stories
Associated Press: Iran’s supreme leader vows to protect nuclear and missile capabilities
Iran’s supreme leader said Thursday that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, likely seeking to draw a hard line as U.S. President Donald Trump presses for a wider deal to cement the war’s shaky three-week ceasefire.
BBC: Antisemitism 'a national security emergency', government terror adviser says
Attacks on Jewish people in the UK are "the biggest national security emergency" in almost a decade, the government's adviser on terrorism has told the BBC. Jonathan Hall KC said British Jews were "now thinking they cannot live a normal life" due to a series of incidents in recent months where Jewish communities have been targeted.
CEP Mentions
Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, emphasised that HAYI was unlikely to be a new terror group. Referring to their claims of attacks across Europe, Dr Schindler said: “Whether the perpetrators are connected, or whether it’s a framework the IRGC is giving them, is up for discussion.”
ZDFheute: Who is behind the terrorist group HAYI?
What is known about HAYI and the terrorist group's connection to the regime in Iran? Is the threat of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe growing? Sara Bildau discusses this with Iran and terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler on ZDFheute live.
Analysis
Jerusalem Post: United States faces crossroads in Iraq as new prime minister is appointed – analysis
The US mission in Iraq “extends its best wishes to Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaydi in his efforts to form a government capable of achieving the aspirations of all Iraqis for a brighter and more peaceful future,” the US Embassy & Consulate in Iraq said Wednesday. As the US seeks to put on a positive face regarding the incoming prime minister, however, it is also offering new rewards for information on several key Iraqi militia leaders.
United States
An alleged Islamic State group militant from Afghanistan was convicted on Wednesday of aiding the terror organization that took credit for a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul airport, but a jury couldn’t agree on whether he bears some responsibility for that attack during the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.
A House resolution set to be introduced on Wednesday by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) condemns far-left streamer Hasan Piker and far-right podcaster Candace Owens for spreading antisemitism. The resolution denounces “antisemitic hate-filled rhetoric and content disseminated by prominent online personalities, and urg[es] social media platforms and public leaders to denounce and address such conduct.”
WBOC: Controversial speaker’s visit brings competing voices to Salisbury University
A controversial speaker’s appearance at Salisbury University drew both supporters and protesters to campus Wednesday night, months after a previous event was postponed over security concerns. Jared Taylor, who describes himself as an advocate for white people, spoke inside Devilbiss Hall after being invited by Colin McEvers, chairman of the Maryland College Republicans. Outside the building, Salisbury University College Democrats and other students held what they described as a peaceful demonstration against Taylor and his views.
Most Americans support Israel over Hamas, according to a Tuesday Harvard CAPS Harris poll, but almost half of the youth back the Palestinian terrorist organization over the Jewish state. The results of the April 23-26 online survey of 2, 745 registered American voters showed that 74% of respondents supported Israel over Hamas, with 86% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats, and 68% of independents.
Canada
Reuters: Canada says IRGC officials banned as Iran officials skip FIFA event
Officials with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are banned from Canada, the country's government said on Wednesday after Iranian football federation
Germany
"It's not possible right now for German students to study in a German university without facing antisemitism," Ron Dekel, President of the Jewish Students' Union of Germany (JSUD), told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, a week after suffering two antisemitic incidents.
Italy
Times of Israel: Jewish man in Rome arrested for allegedly shooting left-wing protesters with airgun
A young Jewish man was arrested in Rome on Wednesday for allegedly shooting and lightly wounding two left-wing demonstrators with an airgun on Saturday at a rally celebrating Liberation Day, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War II in Italy. According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the suspect was brought to the Regina Coeli jail in Rome, and the authorities were considering charging him with attempted murder. The police are also investigating possible ties between the incident and other attacks and acts of vandalism against pro-Palestinian targets over the past two years.
Norway
"I'm seriously worried about the situation for Jews in Norway and especially in Oslo right now," Joel Ystebø, Member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Christian Democratic Party, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. "What worries me now is that there is higher acceptance for antisemitic behavior and rhetoric and hate against other groups. I think that situation is pretty serious."
Spain
Reuters: Wife of Spain's PM Sanchez files assault complaint against far-right influencer
The wife of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has filed a legal complaint against a far-right political campaigner and social media influencer for alleged assault on Wednesday in a cafe in Madrid where he confronted her about a corruption case. A selfie video posted online by influencer Vito Quiles showed him approaching Begoña Gomez in the cafe and following her into the street to ask her about the case despite being challenged by two women who forcibly kept him away from Gomez while she got into a taxi.
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK pledges wider legislation to tackle state-sponsored threats after London stabbings
Britain on Thursday said it would introduce new legislation to tackle state-sponsored threats, after two Jewish men were stabbed in the latest apparent antisemitic attack amid warnings that states like Iran were using criminal proxies. Ministers said the government would fast-track legislation allowing the prosecution of people acting as proxies of a state-sponsored group, so they can be dealt with in the same way as spies for foreign intelligence services.
The British government has pledged about $34 million to combat what one cabinet member is calling an antisemitism emergency facing the U.K., a day after two Jewish men were stabbed in broad daylight in north London in an incident being investigated as terrorism.
Irish Times: Suspect in London stabbings was referred to counter-extremism programme in 2020
The man suspected of carrying out a knife attack in London was previously referred to the UK government’s counter-extremism programme, police have said. The suspect being questioned over the Golders Green attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, according to reports.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Thursday to deal with “the root causes of extremism and antisemitism” after the stabbing of two Jewish men in the heavily Jewish London neighborhood of Golders Green. Starmer said in a video statement that the fight against antisemitism is an issue for “everyone in this country,” and vowed to stand with the Jewish community after the attack, which authorities have formally declared a terrorist incident.
Metropolitan Police: Joint Met and MI5 Counter Terrorism Investigation foils deadly attack plot
A right-wing extremist has been convicted of planning a terrorist attack, after a joint investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London and MI5 found he was plotting to purchase a gun. The investigation into Alfie Douglas Coleman 21 (18.06.2004) of Essex, - who was radicalised from the age of 14 - involved the use of undercover operatives, who identified he was trying to get hold of firearms through his online contacts on extreme right-wing terrorism groups and forums.
JNS: Hitler-loving extremist convicted of planning terror attack in UK
A British white supremacist was convicted of preparing acts of terrorism on Thursday after attempting to purchase a firearm and ammunition from undercover officers. Alfie Coleman, 21, paid £3,500 (about $4,730) for a pistol and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition before his arrest in September 2023. Prosecutors said Coleman admired Adolf Hitler as well as Thomas Mair, who murdered British lawmaker Jo Cox in 2016, according to Reuters.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Afghanistan Falls 53 Spots In Global Press Freedom Rankings Under Taliban
Reporters Without Borders has released its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, ranking Taliban-controlled Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries, unchanged from last year but down 53 places over five years.
Afghanistan International: Time To Act Against Disobedience, Says Taliban Leader
The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada has told Taliban officials that obeying his orders is “like obeying God and the Prophet”, warning that disobedience will be treated as a religious offence. Akhundzada said he would henceforth deal seriously with “disobedience” and urged officials to support his actions without mediation if enforcement begins.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
The Palestinian Authority has continued making payments to terrorists and their families, despite promises to end the pay-for-slay programs, the US State Department informed Congress last month, the department confirmed on Wednesday.
Reuters: Israeli strikes kill four in Gaza, medics say, amid new ceasefire push
Israeli strikes killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, health officials said, as Hamas leaders met mediators in Cairo to discuss ways to reinvigorate a fragile six-month-old U.S.-brokered truce.
Iran
Marine Insight: IRGC Navy Warns U.S. Of New “Surprise Tactics” Amid Rising Gulf Shipping Tensions
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has warned the United States that it is ready to use “surprise tactics” if tensions increase further in regional waters. According to Iranian state media Press TV, Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy for political affairs of the IRGC Navy, said the force has unconventional methods prepared in case Washington makes any new miscalculation.
Iraq
Kurdistan24: U.S. Reaffirms Support for Iraq Amid Escalating Attacks on Diplomatic Sites
The United States has reiterated its commitment to supporting Iraq’s sovereignty and long-term stability, while emphasizing the need to dismantle armed militias operating within the country, the U.S. State Department told Kurdistan24. “We have spoken clearly to what is needed to dismantle the militias in Iraq and advance the U.S.-Iraq relationship,” a U.S. State Department source said.
Shafaq News: Iraq security forces detain 18 terror suspects in April
Iraq’s National Security Service announced on Thursday the arrest of 18 suspects on terrorism charges across several areas during its April 2026 operations.
Israel
Twelve IDF soldiers were wounded on Thursday after a drone struck an armored military vehicle near the northern community of Shomera, as drone incursion sirens blared across northern communities throughout the morning.
After police arrested a 20-year-old ISIS-affiliated man who was planning an attack on soldiers, prosecutors filed an indictment against the suspect Thursday morning, according to a joint statement from the Northern District Central Unit and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
Lebanon
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said during a visit to troops posted in southern Lebanon on Wednesday that there “is no ceasefire,” as Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire despite a truce that’s been in place for almost two weeks.
Naharnet: US officials say Lebanon ceasefire not collapsing
Trump administration officials have said that the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel is not collapsing, despite the growing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. "Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire, and is trying to derail it," one of the officials told U.S. news portal Axios.
Naharnet: Fiber-optic drones: Hezbollah's new lethal weapon
Hezbollah has launched a new weapon against northern Israel in the latest round of fighting: small drones controlled with fiber-optic cables the width of dental floss that avoid electronic detection. These drones — used widely in the war in Ukraine — are small, hard to track and potentially lethal.
Turkey
Kurdistan24: PKK Commander Warns Peace Process 'Suspended' as Erdogan Insists Process on track
On the day of International Workers' Day, one of the PKK's most senior commanders issued a stark warning: the Turkish-Kurdish peace process, celebrated only months ago as a historic opening, may have already ground to a halt.
Pakistan
Afghanistan International: Destroyed Taliban Outposts Along Chaman-Spin Boldak Border, Says Pakistan
Security sources in Pakistan told Dawn on Wednesday that its forces destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts and vehicles in Chaman, in response to what they described as cross-border aggression. The sources said, “Pakistan Army effectively targeted and destroyed several Afghan Taliban posts in Chaman”.
Mali
Reuters: Islamic State-linked insurgents leave Mali town as army tries to reassert control
Malian forces are back in control of a town on the Niger border that Islamic State-linked insurgents entered this week, residents said on Wednesday, as they pushed to regain control of territory following coordinated attacks over the weekend.
Wall Street Journal: Jihadists Are on the Brink of an African Caliphate
Al-Qaeda-led militants bent on building an African caliphate are closing in on Mali’s capital and forcing a retreat of the Russian mercenaries who were meant to staunch the spread of the Islamist group across the country.
Washington Post: Mali’s junta asked Russians to bring order. Militants just stormed in.
After military officers staged a coup in Mali, they ordered French troops to leave the country, ending a nearly decade-long Western-led anti-terrorism operation. Instead, the junta turned to Russia for help quelling a sprawling Islamist insurgency.
Straits Times: Kremlin says Russian forces will stay in Mali as insurgents press attacks
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian forces would stay in Mali to help the military-led government battle insurgents as West Africa's al Qaeda affiliate claimed to have seized more territory. Mali's military rulers are trying to reassert control after coordinated weekend attacks by al Qaeda-linked insurgents and a coalition of mostly Tuareg separatists killed the country's defence minister and forced Russian contractors to withdraw from a strategic town.
Australia
New York Times: Police Were Warned of Terror Risk Before Bondi Attack, Report Says
A Jewish security group warned local police of heightened risk of a terrorist attack amid a “high level of antisemitic vilification” in the days leading up to December’s terrorist attack at a Hanukkah event in Bondi Beach, according to a report from a high-level inquiry into the shooting.
An interim report into last year's Bondi Beach mass shooting advises increased security around Jewish public events and further gun reforms among 14 initial recommendations, but found Australia's legal and regulatory frameworks did not hinder security agencies in preventing or responding to the attack.
The Australian Hellenic Choir denied that antisemitism influenced the cancellation of a Bondi Beach Massacre victims benefit choir performance, according to a Wednesday statement, but was instead due to conflicts with other events.
New Zealand
The man jailed for life after murdering 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand has lost an attempt to withdraw his guilty pleas. Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, was sentenced to life behind bars without parole over the attack in Christchurch in 2019, the country's deadliest mass shooting.
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