Eye on Extremism: August 14, 2026
Top Stories
The National: Syria and Iraq agree to form judicial committees to review ISIS prisoner cases
Syria and Iraq have agreed to form judicial committees to oversee the cases of ISIS prisoners who were transferred from Syrian detention facilities to Iraqi prisons this year.
New York Times: With Trump’s Hamas Deal in Peril, Kushner Set to Visit Israel for Gaza Talks
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior aide and son-in-law, is set to visit Israel early next week, according to four people familiar with the plans, days after the Israeli government rejected a U.S.-brokered disarmament deal with Hamas.
CEP Mentions
Hans-Jakob Schindler, the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, based in New York and Berlin, framed crowdfunding for terrorism amid larger issues surrounding humanitarian aid in conflict zones controlled by groups like Hamas in Gaza and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Deutsche Welle: “Was it Russia?” Is the Leipzig drone attack part of a hybrid war?
DW’s Michaela Küfner asks security analyst Hans-Jakob Schindler, disinformation expert Julia Smirnova and DW Riga Bureau Chief Juri Rescheto to piece together what we know about the drone incident at Leipzig airport. How exposed is Germany to what the government admits are “daily attacks in a hybrid war”? And what, if anything, can we make of the awkward silence from German officials on Russia?
Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project: "If evidence were to emerge that Moscow was behind the airport drones, it would be grounds for triggering Article 4 of the Alliance."
Analysis
CEP Non-resident Fellow Ari Heistein writes that the Houthis are escalating on two major external fronts at a time when they are already facing internal crises regarding the economy and the tribes of northern Yemen.
ACLED: What does the latest UN report reveal about Africa’s jihadist threat?
The latest UN Security Council report on Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda again spotlights the threat their African affiliates present. While the nature of the threat in different theaters depends on financing and battlefield capability, modestly financed groups still present real threats to domestic and international interests.
United States
Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.
Times of Israel: US judge drops Trump case alleging Harvard failed to protect Jewish students
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday by US President Donald Trump’s administration that alleged that Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment.
As major universities across the U.S. strike deals with the Trump administration over antisemitism complaints, a handful of small liberal arts colleges have been quietly settling cases of their own. In the past week, Oregon’s Reed College and Pennsylvania’s Haverford College have both settled complaints accusing them of failing to protect Jewish students in the wake of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war. Pomona and Occidental Colleges, both in southern California, settled complaints in late 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Fox San Antonio: Antisemitism tracker launches initiative to combat antisemitism on college campuses
Jewish advocacy group and antisemitism tracker the Anti-Defamation League launched a new initiative on Wednesday aimed at helping university students, faculty and staff combat antisemitism on their campuses.
New York Times: Ex-Officer Held in New Orleans Mass Shooting Plot Is Freed Without Charges
A former North Carolina police officer who was accused of planning to carry out a mass shooting in New Orleans was quietly released over the summer after a grand jury did not indict him, according to state court records.
Time: ‘A Trojan Horse’: GOP Escalates Anti-Muslim Campaign Against Abdul El-Sayed
“Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse, and a threat to both national security and our republic,” tweeted Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Piped up MAGA influencer Laura Loomer: “As I have been saying for years, Muslims need to be treated like enemy combatants.”
Jewish Insider: Mamdani promises municipal plan to combat antisemitism
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani followed up his meeting with a group of rabbis earlier this week by touting a plan to battle antisemitism in the five boroughs — without committing to making changes in his rhetoric toward Israel that the group of Jewish religious leaders demanded.
Chron: Texas Republican targeted by ‘Pakistanified’ attack responds
A Republican constable in one of the most diverse counties in Texas is brushing off attacks accusing him of helping ‘Pakistanify’ law enforcement as anti-Muslim rhetoric continues spilling into the state's GOP politics.
Canada
A far-right, white nationalist Austrian who has been permanently banned from the United Kingdom for promoting extremist narratives said this week he hopes Canada won't deny him entry ahead of a conference he's set to speak at in Hamilton this month.
Uruguay
JNS: Uruguay: Screening of Hamas propaganda film at university canceled after outcry
The screening of a Mexican documentary film on life in Gaza, produced in collaboration with Hamas, which was scheduled to be held at Uruguay’s largest university, has been canceled, an American Jewish organization said on Wednesday.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Security Chiefs Divided Over Badakhshan Operation, Say Sources
Sources told Afghanistan International that senior Taliban leaders in Kabul are divided over the fighting in Nusay, Badakhshan, amid criticism of the group's deputy chief of intelligence Tajmir Jawad’s handling of the operation.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Helicopter ‘Shot Down’ By Fateh’s Fighters In Nusay District
Local sources told Afghanistan International that a Taliban military helicopter crashed on Thursday, 13 August, around central Nusay district in Badakhshan. Sources said the helicopter was shot down by fighters loyal to Juma Khan Fateh, a dissident Taliban commander.
Afghanistan International: United Front Claims Attacks On Taliban Positions In Helmand & Kandahar
The United Front of Afghanistan said on Friday, 14 August, that its forces had carried out three operations against Taliban forces in Helmand and Kandahar over the previous 24 hours. According to the group’s statement, two Taliban police officers were killed and two others wounded in an attack on the Taliban’s first police district in Lashkar Gah.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has accused the Taliban of supporting terror groups and allowing Afghan territory to be used for attacks against neighbouring countries, including Pakistan. He also accused the Taliban of cooperating with India to carry out attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces.
Afghanistan International: Rebellions Must Be Neutralised, Says Taliban Defence Official
Lotfullah Hakimi, the Taliban Defence Ministry’s chief inspector, said recent armed opposition activity should be neutralised or reformed, noting that the Taliban itself began its fight against the US and former government with small clashes. Hakimi made the remarks on Thursday, 13 August, during a graduation ceremony for students of the Faculty of Medicine at the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Kabul Now: ICC Secretly Issues Arrest Warrants for Two Additional Taliban Officials: Report
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has secretly issued arrest warrants for two additional senior Taliban officials, in addition to the publicly announced warrants for the group’s supreme leader and chief justice, Middle East Eye reported Tuesday (August 11).
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Algemeiner: Palestinian Support for Hamas Falls, New Poll Shows
As destruction from its war with Israel continues to reshape life in Gaza, Hamas is facing a growing reckoning among Palestinians, with support for the terrorist group falling sharply even as most still oppose its disarmament before Israel withdraws from the war-torn enclave, according to a new poll.
Times of Israel: IDF confirms killing Hamas commander who held multiple Israelis hostage in Gaza
The IDF announced Friday that a Hamas commander who invaded Israel on October 7 and held multiple Israelis hostage in Gaza was killed in a recent Israeli airstrike. According to the military, Muhammad Bassam Mushtaha, a commander in Hamas’s Al-Shati battalion, was killed as a result of an airstrike in northern Gaza two weeks ago, on July 30.
Iran
Yemen Online: UK Urges Iran to Halt Support for Houthis, Warns of Threat to Yemen’s Stability
Britain called on Iran to end its long-standing support for Yemen’s Houthi movement, warning that such backing undermines the country’s stability. Speaking at a United Nations Security Council session, Kate Foster, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative, said: “Iran must stop its continued support for the Houthis, which threatens Yemen’s stability.”
Israel
Times of Israel: Report: US officials urging Netanyahu to condemn settler siege of homes in Qusra
US and Israeli officials tell Reuters that the United States wants Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn a siege imposed by extremist settlers in a Palestinian village.
Jerusalem Post: Pay-for-slay: Could the Palestinian Authority be held legally liable for October 7?
Can the Palestinian Authority (PA) be held civilly responsible for the October 7 massacre even if the plaintiffs cannot produce records showing that it directly paid the Hamas terrorists who planned and carried it out? That question sits at the center of litigation brought by more than 8,000 plaintiffs now moving through the Jerusalem District Court, where they are seeking to hold the PA responsible for deaths, injuries, and other harm caused by the massacre and the war that followed.
JNS: Families of fallen demand Netanyahu renew offensive, defeat Hamas
Forum HaGevura (“The Heroism Forum”) urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately return to the offensive against Hamas, in an open letter on Wednesday. The group, composed of more than 300 families whose children were slain during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and in the subsequent “Swords of Iron” war, reached out to the prime minister over recent developments in the Gaza Strip.
In a rare statement of anger and criticism directed at a small group of extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned their attacks against a home being built by a Palestinian American from Ohio.
Kuwait
Kurdistan24: Kuwait Arrests Three ISIS Members Over Alleged Mosque, Facility Attack Plot
Kuwait arrested three members of an Islamic State (ISIS) cell accused of plotting attacks against a Shia mosque and other sites considered vital to the country, a Kuwaiti security source told AFP on Thursday.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Report: Hezbollah evacuation of Ali al-Taher prerequisite for framework implementation
Hezbollah’s complete surrender of the Ali al-Taher hills to the Lebanese Army is a prerequisite for fully implementing the Framework Agreement, said a political source familiar with Lebanese-U.S. discussions, including the recent visit of the head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon, General Joseph Clearfield, to Beirut and his meetings with President Joseph Aoun and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal.
Naharnet: HRW says UN must keep peacekeepers in Lebanon
Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations to keep an international force in Lebanon after its peacekeepers’ mandate ends this year. The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, has roughly 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries, and has been in place since 1978.
Turkey
Turkiye Today: Türkiye quietly drops Syria’s deputy defense minister from terrorism list
Türkiye has removed Sipan Hemo, a former senior YPG leader who now serves as Syria's deputy defense minister, from its “Red List” of terrorism suspects, according to Turkish media reports.
Yemen
Members of the UN Security Council condemned an escalating wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and international shipping. They warned that the threat of Yemen relapsing into full-scale war was at its gravest level in four years, and pressed Iran to end its support for the group.
Reuters: Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan with two drones
Yemen's Houthis said they attacked an Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan with two drones on Thursday, the Iran-aligned movement's Saba news agency reported. A Houthi military source said the attack was in response to what the group described as Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace and sovereignty in Saada and Hajjah provinces.
Times of Israel: X suspends Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree’s account amid regional escalation
X suspended the account of Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Thursday for violating the platform’s rules, amid the Iran-backed Yemeni group’s attacks on Yemeni government forces, Saudi Arabia and commercial shipping.
Times of Israel: Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco refinery, imperiling strained truce
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed a drone attack on an Aramco refinery in southern Saudi Arabia, the Iran-backed group’s affiliated news agency Saba reported, as United Nations officials warned the Yemeni civil war could return in full force amid near-famine conditions.
Associated Press: Crew of Yemeni vessel recounts their chaotic rescue after Houthis’ deadly attack
Crew members of a Yemeni commercial ship who survived a deadly attack by Houthi rebels earlier this week said a second missile struck the vessel just as rescue efforts from the initial strike were underway, causing even more chaos and casualties.
Mali
Globe and Mail: Islamist group used $50-million ransom to escalate its attacks in Mali, UN says
An affiliate of al-Qaeda used a US$50-million ransom payment from a Gulf state to finance an unprecedented rebel offensive that captured a military base in northern Mali, a United Nations report says.
Niger
Fox News: American missionary Kevin Rideout released after more than 9 months in captivity in Niger
Kevin Rideout, an American missionary who was abducted in Niger, has been released after more than nine months of detention in the country, Christian missionary organization SIM International announced.
Bangladesh
Business Standard: UN warns of Al-Qaeda attempts to establish cells in Bangladesh
The United Nations Security Council has raised concerns that Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) may be seeking to exploit Bangladesh to establish terrorist cells.
Australia
A woman concerned about her young relative's neo-Nazi beliefs has criticised the Commonwealth’s flagship violent extremism helpline, saying the service provided vague and unhelpful information during her time of need. Funded by the federal government, Step Together is a national violent extremism prevention and disengagement program that is administered by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
Technology
Ahmad Musa Jibril, the Salafi cleric from Dearborn, Michigan, who some followers claim is sympathetic to the Islamic State, has a formidable online presence. This is all the more notable because following his release from prison in 2012, after serving an eight-year sentence, he was banned from using the Internet for three years because of a probation violation; since the ban ended, he has disseminated no new content online.
Stay up to date on our latest news.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.