Eye on Extremism: August 3, 2026
Top Stories
Russian authorities said on August 2 that an improvised explosive device was detonated at a restaurant in central Moscow, killing at least three people and wounding 21 others, as investigators worked to determine who was behind the bombing. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the device exploded at a restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square, near the center of the Russian capital, around 8 p.m. local time on August 1.
The greatest antisemitic terrorist threat in Europe stems from jihadist terrorism, a new analysis of real-life antisemitic incidents by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) and the European Jewish Congress (EJC) has concluded.
CEP Mentions
Nau.ch: How realistic is the disarmament of Hamas actually?
Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler considers the announced deal to be a significant opportunity. But: He warns against celebrating Trump's announcement as a breakthrough. Schindler told Nau.ch: "If the agreement were actually implemented, it would be a very decisive step towards calming the conflict in the Gaza Strip."
The World: The politics of the Berlin Pride attack
Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks to The World on how Germany is responding to the attack on the Berlin Pride Parade.
“This abduction is simply a confirmation that Boko Haram and ISWAP are more or less in full control over significant parts of Northeastern Nigeria,” the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, says in a written exchange with The New York Sun.
Focus: The Islamists' message: "Stay home and carry out the attacks yourselves."
Islamism has also changed in the digital age. How do terrorist groups operate today? What makes them dangerous? And how can they be stopped? Questions for extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.
WELT TV: "Disarming Hamas is essential."
US Middle East policy remains fraught with uncertainty. Conflicting signals are circulating in the Iran conflict, while in the Gaza Strip, concrete steps toward disarming Hamas have been agreed upon for the first time. "Neither side is budging," says security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.
"The Iranians struck US bases in the Persian Gulf with astonishing accuracy. Since they do not possess precise satellite-based information themselves, Russia remains the only major supporter," Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team.
Bayerischer Rundfunk: After the CSD attack: Deradicalization put to the test
Sofia Koller, an independent extremism researcher and political consultant from Bavaria, warns against drawing hasty conclusions about the effectiveness of deradicalization programs following the attack on Berlin's Christopher Street Day parade.
Analysis
How accusations of genocide have become the latest expression of a centuries-old campaign to demonize the Jewish state.
The Times: When AI helps trolls to hype Hitler, historians stand no chance
A toxic blend of far-right influencers, algorithms and bots is pushing antisemitism into the mainstream, poisoning minds and imperilling Jews. This new form of the oldest hatred is far harder to fight with facts.
CTC Sentinel: The Historical Evolution of the Islamic State’s Anti‑China Propaganda
Over the past decade, the Islamic State has moved China from the periphery of its worldview to a routinized enemy whose interests are legitimate targets for both propaganda and attack. This shift has not been linear, and it cannot be understood simply as a reaction to Beijing’s repression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Rather, it emerges from the interplay of three major developments: the evolution of Islamic State central media after the proclamation of the caliphate in 2014; experimentation with Chinese‑language and Uyghur‑focused content; and, more recently, the rise of Islamic State Khorasan Province as the movement’s anti‑China vanguard.
Eurasia Review: Why ISKP Claimed A BLA-Style Attack In Mastung – OpEd
Mastung has become a concentrated militant hotspot. Recent days also saw a civilian bus attack, the destruction of a highway bridge, IED strikes on security convoys, and the reported use of female suicide operatives, indicating a shift toward systemic disruption of civil society and infrastructure.
United States
Politico: GOP Staffers Say the Party Has a Groyper Problem
Conversations with four senior Republican congressional staffers, as well as think tank scholars, Heritage expats, academics who study think tanks and up-and-coming young Republicans reflected a widening generational split and mutual distrust over the issue.
Times of Israel: NY man who killed Jewish writer in car crash charged with vandalizing kosher shop
A New York City district attorney on Friday arraigned a suspect on hate crimes charges for antisemitic vandalism, weeks after the man was indicted on manslaughter charges for the death of a Jewish journalist.
Flyers promoting an alleged Ku Klux Klan rally in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest next month have surfaced in several Midwestern communities, prompting questions about whether a white supremacist group is attempting to organize in the commonwealth or simply spread fear through provocative propaganda.
Four years ago, the French cement company Lafarge agreed to a first of its kind guilty plea in which it acknowledged funding Islamic State and an al Qaeda affiliate to protect its Syrian plant and paid the U.S. $778 million in penalties. Victims of attacks by those terrorist groups in Syria have said they are entitled to some of that money.
Bloomberg Law News: George Washington Gets Antisemitism Suit Thrown Out, For Now
George Washington University convinced a federal judge to toss a lengthy complaint claiming it failed to address antisemitism on campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel. The lawsuit, filed by former GW students and a university group, flouts requirements of federal civil procedure mandating complaints contain a short and clear statement of the claim, US District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Trevor N. McFadden said July 31.
Late last month, JNS reported that although hate crimes were down 24% in Idaho in 2025, Jews, who are .3% of Idahoans, were the targets of 29% of religion-based incidents. A Jewish leader in Boise told JNS that two things are true—that the number of hate crimes in the Idaho State Police report is too small to draw wide conclusions from and that Jews in the state are on edge.
CBS News: Oak Park city officials investigating new incident of antisemitic fliers
The city of Oak Park, Michigan, is investigating a new report of antisemitic fliers distributed in the community, the latest such local incident in recent months.
Canada
The Toronto Police Service, in partnership with the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), has charged a Toronto man with a terrorism offence following an investigation into alleged conduct at demonstrations in downtown Toronto.
A popular Montreal kosher restaurant was destroyed in what police are investigating as a possible arson attack early Saturday morning, the latest in a worsening pattern of antisemitic attacks across the city and throughout Jewish communities in Canada.
Agence France-Presse: Carney denounces Canada mosque attack as ‘violent act of Islamophobia’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday denounced a shooting at an Islamic centre in Winnipeg as an “appalling” act of Islamophobia. No one was injured in the Wednesday night shooting at the Rahma Islamic Centre in the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province.
CTV News: Winnipeg man pleads guilty to posting hate propaganda online
A Winnipeg man who was arrested and told police, “My tongue could get cut off and I would still say these things,” has pleaded guilty to hate propaganda charges over social media posts. Jason Paul Rindall, in his mid-50s, was arrested in February after Manitoba RCMP launched an investigation into threatening messages posted on the social media platform X.
Germany
Hamburg’s Pride parade, one of Germany’s biggest, got underway Saturday with increased security a week after a fatal extremist attack near its counterpart in Berlin.
Stars and Stripes: Syrian accused of being ISIS policeman arrested in German city near US base
A Syrian man accused of working for the Islamic State group was arrested by German police this week in a Bavarian city where many U.S. service members and their families live.
Europe
BBC: Young guns for hire - the teenage hitmen recruited to kill across Europe
Since 2022, the Foxtrot Network is thought to have been responsible for about 35 murders as well as a number of attacks and attempted attacks on Israeli targets in Europe including two involving explosives and hand grenades. The gang recruits teenagers to carry out the attacks for cash, but it almost never has to pay out as they often get caught.
Lithuania
LRT: ‘I’m racist and I did it on purpose’: Lithuanian volunteer sabotages athlete’s performance
A Lithuanian powerlifting volunteer has been banned for life and reported to police after allegedly admitting he deliberately sabotaged a Belgian athlete's world record attempt because he was "a racist".
Portugal
Daily Cartoonist: Cristina, Carrilho React to Being on Terrorist Target List
Earlier this week we learned that Portugal’s Public Prosecutor’s Office had indicted nine individuals on terrorism charges. The far-right neo-Nazi group members allegedly had a target list of individuals they viewed as a threat due to their alignment with “immigration, anti-racism, anti-fascism, diversity, social inclusion, and minority rights.” That’s also when two cartoonists on the list, Cristina Sampaio and André Carrilho, found out they were on the target list.
Spain
Jerusalem Post: Police investigate swastika graffiti painted over Rambam statue in Cordoba, Spain
A swastika graffiti was drawn on the base of a statue of the Rambam, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, in Cordoba, Spain, a local politician confirmed on Saturday, following media reports. The graffiti was painted over the base of the statue, located in the heart of the Jewish quarters of Cordoba, in the Tiberiades plaza, with local authorities condemning the antisemitic attack.
The High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has confirmed the one-year prison sentence imposed on far-right activist María Isabel Peralta for inciting discrimination and hatred during a demonstration held in May 2021 in front of the Moroccan Embassy in Madrid. This is stated in a ruling, which Europa Press has been able to access, in which the appeal filed against the ruling issued by the Fifth Section of the Provincial Court of Madrid is dismissed.
Spanish authorities are trying to identify criminals and radical Islamists in the Spanish enclave and exclave of Ceuta on the northern coast of Africa after a mass influx of illegal immigrants from Morocco, the Confidencial newspaper reported on Monday. The special services are considering the theory that radical Islamists or jihadists from the towns surrounding Ceuta could have mixed with the crowd to enter Spanish territory, Spanish law enforcement sources said.
United Kingdom
The Huddersfield Council of Mosques have shared their “deep concern” in the rise of “anti-Muslim hatred” in the area. The concerns were raised following the graffitiing on a religious prayer sign at a burial ground in Almondbury, which was branded a “vile” act of Islamophobia by residents.
The Telegraph: Khan ‘should face investigation’ for call to arrest Netanyahu
Sir Sadiq Khan could face a City Hall investigation over his call for Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest. The Labour Mayor of London has been reported to the Greater London Authority (GLA) standards watchdog by a Labour pressure group that campaigns against anti-Semitism.
Middle East
The Telegraph: Tiny militias threaten to draw Middle East into forever war
The ghost of Qassim Soleimani is still haunting Donald Trump. A network of Shia militias that Soleimani spent his career building across Iraq – the Hashd al-Shaabi, aka the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) – has become one of the sharpest instruments that Iran has to drag the US and other Arab countries into a longer, costlier fight.
Reuters: How Iran is widening its pressure campaign to force US concessions
Iran is betting it can outlast Washington by turning the Middle East's trade routes, shipping lanes and energy infrastructure into pressure points that steadily raise the cost of confrontation, according to Gulf officials and analysts. Rather than seeking a decisive military victory, Tehran is pursuing a strategy of calibrated escalation aimed at widening the conflict without triggering full-scale war.
NBC News: Israel conveys concerns to the U.S. about Hamas disarmament deal
Israel says it has shared concerns with the United States about the proposed disarmament deal with Hamas, raising new doubts about the agreement touted by President Donald Trump. “Israel has conveyed its comments and concerns on the proposed framework to our American counterparts. The version that has been made public does not reflect Israel’s position,” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, said in comments sent to NBC News.
Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has welcomed recent remarks by Iran’s deputy ambassador in Kabul about armed opponents of the group, saying they reflect the wishes of the Afghan people.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Recruits Troops In Badakhshan & 10 Other Provinces
Amid increased military activity by opposition groups, the Taliban said on Sunday, 2 August, that it had recruited 547 new personnel across seven Afghan provinces. The group said recruitment was continuing in 11 provinces.
KabulNow: HRW: Taliban’s Assault on Human Rights Has Deepened; Governments Must Take Actions
Five years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that the country is experiencing one of the world’s most severe human rights crises, urging governments to move beyond expressions of concern and take meaningful action to ensure accountability, protect vulnerable Afghans, and respond to the country’s worsening humanitarian situation.
As Afghanistan approaches the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, the Afghanistan United Front, led by former Afghan National Army commander Sami Sadat, has announced the launch of a military campaign against the Taliban under the name “Operation Muharib.”
Afghanistan International: Taliban Halts Mining In Badakhshan Amid Rising Unrest
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the group has suspended operations at some mines in Badakhshan while it reviews extraction guidelines, citing illegal mining, disorder and the seizure of mining sites.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
The Telegraph: Trump’s Hamas disarmament plan unravels
Donald Trump’s deal to disarm Hamas is on the verge of collapse after an increase in Israeli bombing and suggestions that the terror group would not hand over its weapons. Mr Trump hailed a “historic breakthrough” on Friday after his board of peace struck an agreement with Hamas, mandating a staged Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, contingent on an arms decommissioning process.
Board of Peace Gaza envoy Nickolay Mladenov on Sunday lamented the past two days of Israeli strikes in Gaza that “have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on,” days after the body reached a disarmament deal with Hamas that would also see Israel withdraw from the Strip.
Senior Palestinian figure Mohammad Dahlan claimed late Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s top aide Jared Kushner had assured him Israel would be ending its strikes on Gaza, only to delete the post less than two hours later.
The disarmament plan announced by the Board of Peace and approved by Hamas "will not be implemented," a Palestinian source in Gaza affiliated with Israeli-backed militias told The Jerusalem Post.
The IDF on Sunday confirmed the killing of three terrorists from three separate terror groups in the Gaza Strip in the last week. On Saturday, the IDF killed Alaa Imad Khamis Tarams, a terrorist from Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) in Gaza City, as well as Hassan Ibrahim Shehadeh Qahman from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the IDF said.
Iraq
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday urged the Iraqi federal government to restore security and stability in Shingal (Sinjar), implement the normalization agreement, and support efforts to upgrade the district into a province as Yazidis marked the 12th anniversary of the Islamic State (ISIS) genocide against their community.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Monday reaffirmed the federal government's commitment to delivering justice for the victims of the Ezidi genocide, rebuilding Sinjar (Shingal), and strengthening cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to heal the wounds left by the Islamic State (ISIS) atrocities.
Israel
Times of Israel: Teenagers allegedly beat an Arab bus driver unconscious overnight in Jerusalem
Teenagers assaulted a driver on a local Jerusalem bus route overnight until he lost consciousness, knocking out four of his teeth, a labor union said in a statement Sunday. The driver was later identified as an Arab man by his family, which gave his name as Moatasem al-Qaq. The last year has seen a rash of attacks on Arab bus drivers by ultra-nationalist Jewish youths, many of them in and around Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Post: Shin Bet releases brother of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander Zakaria Zubeidi
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced the release of senior Fatah official Jibril Zubeidi on Monday after his administrative detention order expired. Zubeidi, a resident of Jenin in the West Bank, had been held in administrative detention since 2023.
Lebanon
The IDF confirmed on Sunday that Hezbollah terrorists were the ones who deployed an explosive device, which ended up wounding five Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Naharnet: Israel says killed several Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it killed several Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon and that an Israeli soldier was injured there despite a ceasefire. The military said it identified several Hezbollah fighters overnight inside what Israel has labelled a "security zone" in southern Lebanon which its forces occupy.
Saudi Arabia
Reports that Saudi Arabia may be preparing a military operation against Yemen’s Houthis have revived fears that Riyadh could be drawn back into a direct ground war. But the evidence currently points to contingency planning and force repositioning - not a confirmed Saudi ground invasion.
Yemen
Reuters: Six Saudi tankers turn away from Gulf of Aden, ship-tracking data shows
Six Saudi-flagged supertankers have changed course in the Gulf of Aden in recent days and are heading to southern Africa following threats by Yemen’s Houthi movement to target Saudi shipping, tracking data showed on Monday. The tankers, which were empty of cargo after returning from destinations in Asia, were sailing in formation towards southern Africa, rather than opting to transit the southern Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint, according to AIS ship-tracking on LSEG and MarineTraffic.
Yemen Online: UK Maritime Agency Reports Explosion Near Oil Tanker in Strait of Hormuz
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported late Sunday into Monday that an explosion occurred near an oil tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, though no injuries were recorded. In a statement posted on X, the agency said the vessel’s crew reported hearing a blast “directly alongside the ship,” but confirmed that both the tanker and its crew remained safe.
Yemen Online: 2 Killed, Including Toddler, in Grenade Blast at Displacement Camp in Yemen’s Hajjah
A grenade explosion inside a displacement camp in Abs district, Hajjah governorate, killed 2 people including a one‑and‑a‑half‑year‑old girl mand injured two others on Sunday, local sources reported. One of the displaced men threw a grenade in an attempt to target his uncle, who is also his father‑in‑law, amid a family dispute.
Pakistan
Reuters: Suspected suicide bombing at police station kills at least 14 in Pakistan, officials say
At least 14 people were killed in a suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, a rescue group and a regional police official said, as the country battles widening insurgencies. The explosion took place in the Kabal area of Swat, a district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Nigeria
Reuters: Gunmen kill 12, abduct women and children in Nigerian village
Armed men killed at least 12 people and abducted women and children during a night attack on a village in Nigeria's northwestern Sokoto state, witnesses said. Six members of one family burned to death after the attackers set fire to their house, one resident told Reuters.
New Zealand
The Press: Senior NZ First youth figure linked to neo-Nazi group
A senior figure in New Zealand First’s youth wing has been linked to a neo-Nazi group and online accounts that praised Adolf Hitler, an investigation by The Press has found. Nicholas Newport, 23, was named as a member of the executive of Young New Zealand First in late 2024, and last month spoke at the party’s national convention.
Singapore
South China Morning Post: Singapore battles speed of youth radicalisation as concerns mount
Recent arrests in Singapore of young people who succumbed to extremist ideologies and planned attacks, including school stabbings, have sent a chill across the city state, with authorities noting that the speed of radicalisation has doubled.
Sri Lanka
A Sri Lankan court on Friday sentenced a former police chief and a former top Defense Ministry official to death after finding them guilty of criminal negligence that allowed Islamic State-inspired bomb attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019, which killed more than 260 people.
Australia
Protests at the Sydney Opera House and NSW parliament following Hamas’ deadly terror attack on Israel will be analysed for the role they played in fuelling anti-Semitism in Australia. The Royal Commission on anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion will this week examine how two Sydney protests may have promoted “hateful conduct” in the lead up to the attack on a Jewish event at Bondi Beach on December 14 last year, leaving 15 people dead.
Technology
Small Wars Journal: Is AI Moving From Propaganda to Operations in Terrorist Organizations?
Based on interviews conducted in 2025 and 2026 with former Boko Haram members, Antonia Juelich presents one of the first in-depth and field-based studies documenting how an active terrorist organization has adopted frontier artificial intelligence (AI). In “God Has Helped Us, and So Will AI: How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI,” Juelich argues that AI is evolving beyond its previously recognized role in propaganda into an organizational capability. With the shift from theoretical concern to documented operational use, the report discusses important implications for AI governance, counterterrorism, and national security.
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