Eye on Extremism: February 17, 2026
Top Stories
The IDF has been escalating its strikes on terror targets in Lebanon in recent days in preparation for another round of war with Iran, N12 News reported on Monday evening. According to the outlet, the military’s ramping up of attacks on these targets, which have seen strikes on Hezbollah’s operatives, rocket launchers, and weapons stores, has been part of an effort to cripple the terrorist organization’s ability to aid Iran in a potential conflict.
Reuters: Militants kill 11 Pakistani security personnel, one child near Afghan border, army says
Militants rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into an army checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 security personnel and a child, the military said on Tuesday, as the South Asian nation battles a surge in violence. Women and children were among seven wounded in Monday's attack in Bajur district, which lies along the border with Afghanistan, the military said.
CEP Mentions
Deutschlandfunk: Extremism – Radicalization on the Internet
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interview discussing online radicalization in Germany.
Legal Tribune Online: Detention of many German IS returnees expires
Although the proceedings were complex and required considerable resources, they led to a thorough investigation in many places. This includes groundbreaking decisions such as the first conviction of an IS returnee for genocide against the Yazidis (Section 6 of the International Criminal Code (VstGB)). Compared to other European countries, Germany has done a good job here, especially in international criminal law, according to extremism researcher Sofia Koller from the Counter Extremism Project in an interview with LTO.
Analysis
Lebanon’s army continues to claim it is seeking to disarm Hezbollah. However, a report at the AFP noted that “Lebanon’s government said Monday that the army would need at least four months to implement the second phase of the military’s plan to disarm militant group Hezbollah in the country’s south.”
United States
In the days leading up to July 4, 2025, prosecutors allege at least six people in a Signal group chat named the "4th of July Party!" discussed what to bring to the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado: fireworks, guns, medical kits.
A New York City Health Department staffer wished for all Israelis to be wiped off the Earth in a resurfaced X/Twitter post, Jewish watchdog group Canary Mission revealed on Monday. Achmat Akkad, a community coordinator in NYC's health department since 2017, called for the eradication of Israelis on the social media platform, claiming that “one Israeli left in this world would be one too many!"
Phylisa Wisdom says she is ready to show the world what “a real, progressive commitment to combating antisemitism” looks like. Wisdom is set to lead Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office to Combat Antisemitism at a moment when the landscape of Jewish New York is shifting.
Fox 10 Phoenix: Man accused of pointing gun at mom allegedly gamed with Islamic extremists
Prosecutors believe that a Scottsdale man who allegedly pulled a gun on his own mother and another person may have ties to Islamic extremists who he connected with through a video game. FOX 10's Nicole Krasean learns more about how playing a violent video game may have fueled his real-life actions.
The coalition of minority ethnic psychologists within the American Psychological Association (APA) has opposed the recognition of the Association of Jewish Psychologists (AJP) as an Ethnic Psychological Association, claiming that most Jews “identify as white.”
Canada
Times of Israel: Anti-Zionist groups in Canada target Jewish children’s summer camps
Anti-Zionist groups in Canada last week launched a campaign against Jewish children’s summer camps, marking a new front in activists’ global effort to dismantle the Jewish state and demonize its supporters. A coalition of Canadian leftist and pro-Palestinian organizations announced the campaign seeking to strip accreditation from Jewish children’s summer camps due to their support for “a genocidal state.”
Austria
Euronews: Austria charges man with terrorism over Taylor Swift concert attack plot
Prosecutors in Austria have filed terrorism charges against a 21-year-old who allegedly plotted to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024. Austrian prosecutors have filed terrorism-related charges against a 21-year-old defendant who they say planned to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.
Belgium
Associated Press: Belgium summons U.S. ambassador over tweet accusing kingdom of antisemitism
Belgium summoned the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday over a social media post where he accused the country of antisemitic prosecution of Jewish Belgians, the kingdom’s foreign minister said. “Labeling Belgium as antisemitic is not just wrong, it’s dangerous disinformation that undermines the real fight against hatred,” said Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévot in a post on X on Monday. The summons is a rare move between staunch allies.
France
Deutsche Welle: France opens murder probe into right-wing activist's death
French authorities on Monday opened a murder investigation after a 23-year-old man died from a severe brain injury following an attack on the streets of Lyon last week. Lyon's public prosecutor Thierry Dran announced the probe at a press conference, saying that Quentin Deranque had been attacked by "at least six" people on Thursday. The victim was part of a group of far-right activists protesting the appearance of a left-wing politician speaking at a university in the western city of Lyon.
Euronews: French 'ultra-left' blamed for death of far-right activist in Lyon
The incident on Saturday has further fuelled tensions between France's far right and hard left ahead of municipal elections nationwide in March and the 2027 presidential race. French government officials have blamed the "ultra-left" for the death of a far-right activist in Lyon, after he was attacked on the sidelines of a conference by hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) MEP Rima Hassan.
BBC: Student death puts French far-left under pressure
France's radical left is under pressure after the killing of a student in Lyon was blamed on "anti-fascist" militants. Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old maths student and nationalist activist, died on Saturday, two days after being beaten up on the street by a group of young men.
The Guardian: Student killed by ‘left-wing militia’ escalates tensions in France
A right-wing student protester has died in Lyon after being severely beaten, allegedly by left-wing activists, near the elite Sciences Po University, igniting a national political row and escalating tensions across France. “No cause, no ideology justifies killing,” President Macron said, appealing for “calm and restraint”. Conservatives accused the hard-left party France Unbowed of inciting the violence and Marine Le Pen denounced “left-wing militias”, which she said should be treated as “terrorist groups”.
Jerusalem Post: Jews were target of majority of antireligious acts in 2025, French ministry reveals
Over half of the anti-religious acts committed in France in 2025 were against Jews, the French Interior Ministry revealed last week. The new Anti-Religious Acts Report 2025 found that almost 2,500 antireligious acts were carried out last year, similar to the number in 2024.
RFI: Macron hardens attack on 'far-left' LFI, says antisemitic rhetoric must be tackled
French President Emmanuel Macron has described France Unbowed (LFI) as a far-left movement in which “antisemitic expressions” are emerging and “must be combated”, in an interview with Radio J – a Paris-based radio station aimed at France’s Jewish community – that has reignited tensions with the opposition party.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Lower Saxony: AfD state chapter designated extremist group
The northern state of Lower Saxony's internal intelligence agency will monitor the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party as a "surveillance object of considerable import" on the far-right. Interior Minister Daniela Behrens and state intelligence agency (or Verfassungsschutz) head Dirk Pejril announced the move at a press conference on Tuesday.
The Guardian: Far-right character’s monologue prompts violent scenes at German theatre
An actor at a theatre in Germany was at the weekend shouted down, pelted with fruit and subjected to an attempted stage invasion as he delivered a final monologue in character as a far-right activist. The violent scenes came on Saturday during the German premiere of the Portuguese playwright Tiago Rodrigues’s work Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Afghanistan
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry on Monday hosted a meeting of special representatives from Central Asian countries on Afghanistan, emphasising regional stability and expanded cooperation with Taliban-run Afghanistan. The meeting was held within the framework of a regional contact group on Afghanistan, according to Kazakhstan’s state news agency.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Orders Gender Segregation In Hospital Operating Rooms
The Taliban have instructed teaching hospitals in Afghanistan to prevent male and female medical staff from working together in operating rooms, according to a document obtained by Afghanistan International. Under the directive, all members of a surgical team must be either entirely male or entirely female, and mixed-gender teams are prohibited. The order states that a patient’s gender will not be considered when assigning surgical staff.
Afghanistan International: Taliban in Helmand Sets Punishment For Shaving Beards
Taliban authorities in Helmand province have warned that individuals who shave their beards will face what they describe as “sharia-based punishment.” The new warning is part of the group’s enforcement of its Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Afghanistan International: New Report Details Violence Against Women Under Taliban Rule
Afghanistan Women’s Rights Watch, in cooperation with the Türkiye-based ARSA Association, says it documented 411 cases of rights violations against women and girls in Afghanistan in 2025, according to the group’s annual report. As part of the research, the organisation recorded around 300 cases described as “direct violence against women” attributed to the Taliban.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Times of Israel: Top Hamas official refuses Netanyahu aide’s 60-day disarmament ultimatum
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi rejects Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs’s statement yesterday that Hamas will have 60 days to disarm, possibly starting with Thursday’s Board of Peace conference. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mardawi says Hamas has received no such information from mediators and calls such statements “merely threats with no basis in the ongoing negotiations.”
Dozens of sheep were burned to death in an overnight arson attack carried out by Israeli settler extremists in the southern West Bank, Palestinian media reports. Israeli security forces are heading to the village of as-Samu, near Hebron, to investigate the incident.
Times of Israel: Hamas used emojis to signal operatives to prepare for Oct. 7 assault
Hamas used a sequence of emojis sent to its operatives’ phones as a coded signal to prepare to launch the October 7, 2023, terror onslaught, it was revealed on Monday. The revelation was first reported by Channel 12 news and approved for publication by the Military Censor, more than two years after the attack.
The IDF found a weapons cache belonging to Hamas's Rafah brigade during operational activity in the area of the Yellow Line in southern Gaza on Monday, the IDF announced.
Jewish News Syndicate: Turkey inaugurates Gaza City mosque named for ‘father of global jihad’
Turkey recently inaugurated a mosque in the Gaza Strip in the name of Salafi theologian Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli said on Sunday.
Iran
Iran has begun live fire exercises towards the Strait of Hormuz, according to multiple semi-official Iranian news agencies. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said missiles launched inside Iran and along its coast and Island struck their targets in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran International: Khamenei to Trump: You won’t depose Islamic Republic
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the United States will never succeed in toppling the Islamic Republic and warned that even the world’s strongest military can suffer crippling blows. “The US president said in one of his recent remarks that for 47 years America has been unable to eliminate the Islamic Republic; he complained about it to his own people. For 47 years, America has not been able to eliminate the Islamic Republic. That is a good admission,” Khamenei said at a meeting with people from East Azarbaijan province on Tuesday. “I say: You, too, will not be able to do this.”
Israel
Israel plans to afford Hamas a 60-day period to disarm, and if it does not, the Israeli military will go back to war in the Gaza Strip, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said Monday that the Military Advocate General’s Corps will oversee the prosecution of Hamas Nukhba terrorists accused of carrying out the Oct. 7 massacre, instead of the State Attorney’s Office.
Jewish News Syndicate: Terrorist freed in 2011 Shalit deal nabbed at Israeli mall
A Palestinian convicted of terrorism and released to the Gaza Strip in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner swap was arrested last week at a mall in the central Israeli city of Kfar Saba, according to indictments filed Tuesday.
Lebanon
Times of Israel: Lebanon says next phase of Hezbollah disarmament to take around 4 months
Lebanon’s government said Monday that the army would need at least four months to implement the second phase of the military’s plan to disarm the Hezbollah terror group. Lebanon’s government last year committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in a recent war with Israel, and tasked the army with drawing up a plan to do so.
Naharnet: Report: US, regional actors seeking deal with Lebanon that would freeze Hezbollah arms
Political negotiations are underway, led by regional actors, with the aim of reaching a "security agreement with Lebanon," the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper quoted informed sources as saying. The Americans are saying that they are interested in arranging this agreement and Hezbollah is not showing opposition, the daily said.
Naharnet: Qassem slams govt. over weapons, urges end to arms monopoly steps
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday criticized the Lebanese government for offering “continuous concessions” to Israel, suggesting that the Lebanese state should halt all steps related to the so-called arms monopolization plan.
Pakistan
The Hindu: 26 terrorists arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province
At least 26 terrorists, including from the banned TTP and Al-Qaeda, who had planned to target important buildings in different cities were arrested from across the Punjab province of Pakistan, law enforcement claimed on Saturday (February 14, 2026).
Burkina Faso
BBC: Ghana tomato traders among dead in Burkina Faso attack
Reports say at least 20 people were killed on Saturday in the northern town of Titao, Burkina Faso, in attacks claimed by JNIM - an Islamist militant group linked to al-Qaeda. Among the dead were seven Ghanaians "burnt beyond recognition" who have yet to be identified, said Ghana's Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak.
Nigeria
Reuters: Nigeria says 100 more U.S. military personnel arrive to tackle Islamists
About 100 U.S. military personnel have arrived in Nigeria as Washington scales up an operation to target Islamist insurgents, a Nigerian defence spokesperson said. U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest.
Reuters: Nigerian troops repel coordinated Islamist attacks in Borno, military says
Nigerian troops have repelled simultaneous assaults by Islamist militants on two military bases in Borno state, leaving an unspecified number of soldiers dead, the army said on Monday, in some of the fiercest clashes reported in the northeast this year. Borno, the epicentre of Nigeria's 17-year Islamist insurgency, has seen Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters intensify attacks on both troops and civilians.
Australia
Reuters: Australia rules out helping families of IS militants leave Syrian camp
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday his government would not help Australians in a Syrian camp holding families of suspected Islamic State militants return home, with the government open to prosecutions if they make it back. "We have a very firm view that we won't be providing assistance or repatriation," Albanese told ABC News.
A court has lifted an order concealing the identity of the man accused of throwing a bomb into a crowd at a Perth Invasion Day rally in an alleged act of terrorism. Police allege Liam Alexander Hall, 32, tossed what they described as a homemade "fragment bomb" filled with ball bearings and screws into the crowd in the heart of Perth's CBD on January 26.
Canberra Times: 'Heart of gold': mum backs neo-Nazi fan after hate rant
A mother has said her son had a "heart of gold" despite making a hate-filled speech against Jews while supporting neo-Nazis at an Australia Day rally. Brandan Koschel attended the March for Australia protest alongside hundreds of others winding their way through Sydney's city centre.
The Guardian: Bondi beach terror attack accused Naveed Akram makes first court appearance
The accused Bondi beach terrorist Naveed Akram has spoken briefly during his first court appearance in Sydney. The 24-year-old appeared via video link in the Downing Centre local court on Monday morning on 59 charges, including murder and terrorism offences, over the Bondi beach shooting.
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