Eye on Extremism: August 4, 2026
Top Stories
The National: Yemen's Houthis claim drone strike on Saudi target at Najran Airport
Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Tuesday that they carried out a drone strike on a “sensitive target” at Najran Airport in southern Saudi Arabia. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi officials. The Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack achieved a “precise strike” and was conducted in response to what the group said were Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace over Saada and Hajjah governates.
The Trump administration is preparing to launch a nationwide campaign against antisemitism, sending senior Justice Department officials to 15 cities that it says have failed to adequately protect their Jewish communities.
CEP Mentions
Following the Christopher Street Day attack in Berlin, many are calling for stricter measures to combat terrorism. In this interview, expert Hans-Jakob Schindler explains what Germany can learn from other EU countries, what the US is doing better, and why the financial industry should be a role model for social media.
Live interview with Hans-Jakob Schindler (terrorism expert), on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, regarding the meeting of the Interior Committee on the CSD attack.
Analysis
A new study published in the JD Journal for Deradicalization by HSToday author Eoin B. Healy examines the increase in global terrorism following the October 7, 2023, attacks and the role of antisemitism within extremist ecosystems.
United States
Wall Street Journal: Hate Crimes Against Jewish New Yorkers Surge Amid Heightened Antisemitism
Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 8.5% in New York City this year, New York Police Department officials said Monday, amid heightened levels of antisemitism around the world since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
Arab Weekly: US Congress moves to classify Polisario as terrorist group
Republican Representative Ronny Jackson argued that Iran and its regional allies had sought for years to exploit the Polisario to expand Tehran’s influence and destabilise West Africa.
Fox 5 Atlanta: Atlanta pastors demand U.S. Senate candidate disavows white supremacy
A coalition of Black pastors called on Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rep. Mike Collins to publicly disavow white supremacy and clarify his beliefs during a news conference Monday afternoon in Atlanta.
Bloomberg Law: Deutsche Bank Clears Challenge Over Supporting Islamic State
A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit brought by family members of three Americans kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic State group alleging Deutsche Bank AG units unlawfully supported the terrorist organization. The plaintiffs didn’t show how the routine business of the Deutsche units rose to the level of participating in a venture with the terrorist group, Judge Richard J. Sullivan wrote in a ruling Monday on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
A 43-year-old North Miami woman is facing multiple felony charges after police say she carried out an antisemitic attack on a Jewish man inside the Starbucks located within a Target store in North Miami Beach.
After weeks of attacks by the campaign of the U.S. senator he is seeking to unseat and a lot of unfavorable national media attention, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins responded Monday to allegations his son-in-law has made anti-Semitic statements online.
Last week, prosecutors charged Dawood Faisal, 22, with a hate crime for destroying property at Bagels & Co, a bagel shop on the corner of a major thoroughfare in Fresh Meadows that advertises itself as kosher in neon lights and displays Israeli flags. On two separate occasions in May, Faisal allegedly knocked over multiple plant stands outside the shop and, in one instance, hurled dirt at the outside wall of the store. In May, Faisal was arraigned on charges of manslaughter for the death of Trager, a Queens-based journalist who was also active in her Jewish community. Faisal allegedly sped over 75 mph through two red lights and collided with two cars, propelling one into a crosswalk where it struck Trager and her husband, Michael, who survived.
News 6: Are you a terrorist? Here’s what to know about Florida’s controversial new law
Of the dozens of new Florida laws passed so far this year, one stands out among the rest. That’s HB 1471, which was originally filed by state Rep. Hillary Cassel (R-Hollywood) earlier this year. It makes a variety of changes to state law regarding terrorist organizations.
Canada
ESPN: MLS investigates alleged antisemitic fan abuse of Revs F Turgeman
Major League Soccer is investigating "reported antisemitic and discriminatory language" from fans directed at New England Revolution striker Dor Turgeman during their game against CF Montreal, the league said Monday.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: German lawyers: Ban on far-right AfD 'likely successful'
A new report by legal experts has found that efforts to ban Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) could be successful — but there would be political dangers to such a move.
Moldova
Moldova’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday that it had issued visas to a Taliban Agriculture Ministry delegation but stressed that this did not amount to recognising the Taliban government. The ministry said Moldovan officials would hold no official or bilateral meetings with members of the delegation.
Netherlands
Ahead of Pride Amsterdam (July 25-August 8), mysterious flyers were distributed featuring names and locations of Jewish IDF soldiers visiting the city. The flyers, which bear the logo of WorldPride and of the City of Amsterdam, say: “Protect your community, watch out for war criminals during WorldPride.”
NL Times: Man, 20, arrested in Bergen op Zoom in terrorism investigation
The police arrested a 20-year-old man in Bergen op Zoom on Thursday evening as part of a terrorism investigation, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) reported on Monday. The man is suspected of planning to join ISKP, the Afghanistan branch of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS).
United Kingdom
The British chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement hosted a Summer School during which young participants chanted “we will crush Zionism” and “young people, rise up, our revolution is an Arab revolution”.
The Guardian: Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
A former neo-Nazi activist with convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP has been selected as a Conservative candidate for a local election in Somerset. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, the creator of the viral Crewkerne Gazette series of AI clips, is due to stand for election to Somerset council next year in a new Crewkerne South district. He told the Guardian he was an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser.
Belfast Telegraph: North coast anti-immigration group disowns neo-Nazi member after fallout
A self-styled neo-Nazi has been publicly ousted by a north coast anti-immigration group led by a convicted loyalist rioter. Mark Brown has been kicked out of Our Northern Ireland Voice (ONIV), which has hosted anti-immigration protests in Coleraine and Portrush in recent months.
Bristol Post: Somalian returned to Bristol after 'failed mission to become Isis martyr', court told
A Somali man living the UK travelled to his birth country in a bid to join the so-called Isis terrorist group and sought help from an AI bot to help him make contact, a court has heard.
A man has been arrested in Wigston on suspicion of expressing support for Daesh, the extremist group also known as Islamic State, ISIS, or ISIL. The 27-year-old man, from Wigston, was arrested on Monday, August 3 on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, Daesh, contrary to section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Afghanistan
Tribune: Ex-Afghan army Lt Gen Sami Sadat announces armed campaign against Taliban after talks fail
Former Afghan National Army lieutenant general Sami Sadat has announced the launch of coordinated armed operations against the Taliban regime under the banner of the Afghanistan United Front (AUF).
Afghanistan International: Taliban Demands UN Seat Before Accepting Assessments Of Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said no assessment of Afghanistan would be complete or fair without an official representative of the group at the United Nations. Mujahid said the Taliban did not expect any positive outcome from the United Nations until Afghanistan’s seat was handed to the group and its administration was allowed to present what he called its achievements.
Christina Markus Lassen, Denmark’s UN ambassador and Security Council president for August, called the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power a “rather grim anniversary”.
Afghanistan International: More Than 10 Women Detained In Helmand Over Taliban Dress-Code Rules
Residents of Helmand say Taliban morality police have intensified pressure on women over dress-code rules, detaining more than 10 women in the past week for allegedly failing to observe the required hijab. Residents of Lashkar Gah told Afghanistan International that most of the arrests took place around the women’s market in the Karte Lagan area of the city.
Credible sources in the Taliban’s Justice Ministry say the commission for recovering seized land plans to review Hazara and Shia townships and properties across several Afghan provinces. The commission recently declared Omid-e Sabz township in western Kabul to be state-owned and ordered residents to leave their homes.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Hamas will not change its mentality and "resisting the occupation is its holy mission," the terror group's spokesperson Ghazi Hamad claimed during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, broadcast on Monday.
The US-backed Board of Peace appeared to change its conditions for the IDF to withdraw from Gaza after its top officials held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday, shortly before a fresh Israeli airstrike was reported in the enclave.
Times of Israel: Israel presses doubts about Gaza plan as Hamas warns airstrikes will derail effort
As Israel faced growing criticism from the Board of Peace for its continued strikes on Gaza, despite Hamas’s recent signing of a US-backed disarmament plan, a senior Israeli spokesman said Monday that the roadmap “does not reflect Israel’s positions,” and “stands in direct contrast to the current reality” in the Strip.
Washington Examiner: Meet the Gaza athletes unmasked as terrorists
On July 22, the Israel Defense Forces published information indicating that 12 Gazan athletes killed during the Oct. 7 war were also members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The list includes Khattab — a tank commander whose affiliation with PIJ had already been acknowledged in June — as well as additional players, coaches, and even an international referee. The Israeli militia decided to spotlight Khattab and others in response to accusations from activist groups and the Palestinian Football Association during the 2026 FIFA World Cup season, claiming that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian soccer players.
Times of Israel: Settler extremists said to torch vehicles, cut electrical lines in West Bank raids
Israeli settler extremists raided several Palestinian villages in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank late Monday night, local media reported Tuesday, setting fire to cars, spray-painting political messages on residential buildings, and damaging a village’s electrical grid.
Israel
A 21-year-old east Jerusalem resident was arrested on suspicion of publishing content inciting against Israel and expressing support for terrorist organizations and terrorists on social media, police announced on Tuesday morning.
Lebanon
Lebanon’s prime minister fires back at Hezbollah for saying talks with Israel bring “nothing but shame,” saying the Iran-backed terror group dragged the country into war.
AFP: Qassem says Aoun has become 'biased and divisive'
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Tuesday that direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel would bring "nothing but shame, humiliation, and successive compromises" for Lebanon, ahead of new talks in Rome.
AFP: Qassem says no objection to meeting with Syrian authorities
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Tuesday that he had no objection to meeting openly with Syria's leadership, the first time he has expressed such a stance after his Iran-backed group fought for Syria's former authorities. "There is no impediment to a public meeting between Hezbollah and the Syrian leadership at a time considered appropriate by both sides," Qassem said in a televised address.
Syria
Foreign Policy: What Remains of Rojava
In northeastern Syria, Kurdish leaders continue to fight a rear-guard battle for autonomy.
Yemen
NBC News: Another Hormuz? What to know about the Houthi threat to the Red Sea
As the United States and Iran remain locked in a struggle for control over the Strait of Hormuz, concerns are mounting about the security of another regional maritime chokepoint: the Red Sea. On July 20, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared that they would impose a complete naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. Although they didn’t provide specifics on what the blockade would entail, Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen runs directly along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—at the south end of the Red Sea—which Saudi Arabia uses to export oil to the global market.
Yemen Online: Houthis Force 6 Saudi Oil Tankers to Reroute Away from Red Sea
Ship‑tracking data on Monday showed that 6 Saudi‑flagged supertankers altered course in the Gulf of Aden, steering away from the Bab al‑Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea amid threats from Yemen’s Iran‑aligned Houthi movement, Reuters reported.
The National: Aramco plans new export routes as Houthi Red Sea blockade squeezes Saudi oil flows
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporting company, is studying an expansion of its East-West pipeline and the establishment of new export routes as the "maritime blockade" by Yemen's Houthi rebels squeezes access through the Red Sea.
Nigeria
TVC News: Troops Arrest Two Suspected ISWAP Logistics Suppliers In Borno
Troops of Sector 3, Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK)/Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), have arrested two suspected logistics suppliers to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) during an intelligence-led operation in Monguno, Borno State. The suspects, identified as Bukar Kaka Modu, 30, and Abubakar Musa, 30, according to Security Publication Zaggazola Makama on X were apprehended at the C-19 checkpoint in Monguno on Monday following sustained surveillance aimed at disrupting terrorist supply networks, according to security sources.
Australia
A senior police officer has apologised to Sydney’s Jewish community for not informing them that a neo-Nazi group had been given approval to protest outside New South Wales parliament in November.
The leader of one of the world's most high-profile Jewish organisations says Australia faces a crucial test on how it tackles the rise of antisemitism as the royal commission resumes in Sydney. On Tuesday, in its seventh hearing block, the commission will analyse the democratic function of protests, hateful conduct that sometimes occurs at protests and how police manage demonstrations.
The Australian: Inside the deadly delusion of sovereign citizens
Harry Hobbs and Stephen Young’s study, Outlawed: Responding to the Global Rise of Sovereign Citizens and Legal Conspiracies, is a tightly researched, deftly analysed and highly readable guide to the world of adults who refuse to carry driver’s licences, pay rates and taxes, and who sometimes even attempt to arrest the magistrate when called before a court.
Australian Jewish News: Academic says extremist views and actions not necessarily linked
Associate Professor Mario Peucker, an expert on radicalisation and violent extremism, has told the Royal Commission into Antisemitism that radicalisation is best understood as a process rather than an inevitable path to violence, stressing that holding extreme views does not necessarily lead to extremist acts.
Technology
Forbes: Telegram Briefly Removed From App Store Over Alleged Child Sexual Abuse Content
Apple briefly took down messaging app Telegram from its App Store on Monday alleging it violated its guidelines on child sex abuse material—it’s the latest controversy surrounding the platform after its billionaire founder was recently accused by Russia of aiding terrorism, and Australia alleged it failed to block violent content.
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