Eye on Extremism: February 23, 2026
Top Stories
New York Times: Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack U.S. Targets Abroad, Officials Warn
U.S. and other Western security officials say they are monitoring increasingly worrisome signs that Iran could direct proxies to conduct retaliatory terrorist attacks against American targets in Europe and the Middle East if President Trump orders large-scale strikes against Iran.
Pakistan said Sunday it carried out airstrikes on militant camps across the border in Afghanistan, in a serious test of an uneasy peace between the neighbors. Pakistan’s information ministry said its military conducted “intelligence-based, selective operations” against seven camps belonging to militants it blames for a recent series of deadly attacks on its soil. The strikes targeted the Pakistani Taliban – also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – and its affiliates, as well as a group associated with the Islamic State.
CEP Mentions
Al Arabiya: Hamas official says group in final stage of choosing new chief
The new leader will need to navigate between international calls, led by the United States and Israel, for the group to disarm, and resistance to that demand from its armed wing, which fought Israeli forces in Gaza. Hamas, however, said it would surrender its weapons to a Palestinian authority in Gaza under certain conditions. Both Meshaal and al-Hayya have years of experience within the movement. Al-Hayya, 65, a Gaza native and Hamas’ chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, has held senior roles since at least 2006, according to the US-based NGO the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).
Times of Israel: Call From the Past
ARCHER, an initiative of the Counter Extremism Project, actively combats antisemitism, extremism, and terrorism while preserving historical memory. Elliott is co-chair of The Fund to End Antisemitism, Extremism and Hate, which fundraises for ARCHER.
Analysis
Since the publication of ICCT and GLOBSEC’s previous report on Russian crime-terror nexus and its usage of the so-called “disposable” agents for sabotage, diversionary, or in reality, terrorist purposes, we have identified new incidents and new perpetrators of old (i.e. prior to the summer of 2025) and new (between the summer of 2025 and February 2026) attacks. This update to the aforementioned report will demonstrate that Russia continues its kinetic activities against Europe, notably by sponsoring and developing plots in the territory of the EU Member States.
Bloomberg: The New Face of Extremism Among Asia’s Youth
A dangerous trend is emerging in chatrooms and digital communities across Asia. Young people — mainly men and boys — are being exposed to a volatile mix of nationalist grievances, misogyny and nihilistic violence. Governments are far from equipped to confront this rising threat; often they don’t even know what they’re looking for. Yet the longer this goes undetected, the greater the risk that it spills into real-world violence.
United States
Police and the FBI are investigating after a car filled with weapons was rammed into a power substation near the Hoover Dam Thursday, in what has been described as a "terrorism-related event.” It is the latest in a string of incidents targeting electric infrastructure in recent years but there is no ongoing threat to the public, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Friday.
NBC News: Man found dead after crash outside power facility in southern Nevada
A man fatally shot himself after his rental car, filled with weapons and explosive materials, breached the perimeter of a power facility in Nevada and crashed into a large cable spool, authorities said Friday. Investigators are treating the incident just outside the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility in southern Nevada as terrorism-related, authorities said. Dawson Noah Maloney, a 23-year-old from Albany, New York, drove to Nevada and stayed at the El Rancho Boulder Motel in Boulder City, where investigators found publications espousing extreme right wing, left-wing, white supremacist, and anti-government ideology, they said.
Europe
Telegraph: Iran plotting terror attacks across Europe
Iran is planning terror attacks on US targets in Europe and the Middle East, according to Western and American security officials. The Islamic Republic’s proxies could be given direct orders to conduct retaliatory attacks if Donald Trump launches strikes on Iran, new information has revealed.
France
Jerusalem Post: Five people in France indicted for funding Hamas under guise of humanitarian aid
Five people in France have been indicted for transferring funds to Hamas under the cover of humanitarian aid to Palestinians, France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Monday. According to PNAT, five individuals were brought before the court on February 20 and were formally charged with financing Hamas under the guise of humanitarian work.
Ukraine
Financial Times: Ukraine blames Russia for ‘terrorist attack’ in Lviv
Ukrainian authorities are investigating a “terrorist attack” in Lviv that has killed one person and left at least 25 injured, which they believe is linked to Russian special services. The regional prosecutor’s office said police received a call shortly after midnight on Sunday about a break-in at a store in the city centre near Lviv’s opera house. An explosion ripped through the store as police crew were dispatched to the scene and a second detonation happened after the arrival of a second police patrol unit about 15 minutes later.
Newsweek: Who Was Viktoria Shpylka? Ukraine Cop Killed in Suspected Terror Attack
A police officer who died in what officials called a "terrorist attack" in western Ukraine early on Sunday has been named as 23--year-old Viktoria Shpylka. Authorities said 25 people had also been injured when two improvised explosive devices planted in garbage cans in the city of Lviv detonated at roughly 12:30 a.m. local time on Sunday.
Afghanistan
Bloomberg: Afghanistan Vows Response to Pakistan’s Cross-Border Strikes
Afghanistan’s Taliban government said it will respond to Pakistan’s series of cross-border air strikes along the country’s eastern border, renewing tensions between the neighbors that exchanged deadly blows last year. “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children,” Zabihullah Mujahid, Afghanistan’s government spokesperson, said in a post on X on Sunday. “At the appropriate time, the necessary and measured response to this action will be given,” according to a statement by Afghan defense ministry posted by Mujahid on X.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Times of Israel: With Hamas focused on Gaza, Islamic Jihad seen filling vacuum in West Bank
With Hamas constrained by a host of political and military factors, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the most prominent Palestinian terror group after Hamas, has upped its recruitment and propaganda efforts in the West Bank, analysts and former officials told The Times of Israel. Filling a vacuum created by Hamas — which has faced grinding IDF pressure while its Gaza leadership deprioritizes the West Bank — Islamic Jihad has increasingly asserted itself in the northern West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority’s grasp is more tenuous than the rest of the territory.
Guardian: Hamas reportedly holds leadership vote at critical moment for militant group
Hamas has reportedly begun holding leadership elections among its members at a time when the militant Palestinian movement faces imminent decisions which will be critical to its own continued existence and the potential for peace in Gaza. According to the BBC and press reports in the Gulf, Hamas members in Gaza have already voted. Those in the West Bank, in Israeli prisons and the diaspora are also expected to cast ballots for delegates to the movement’s 50-member general Shura council, which ultimately chooses its politburo and a new interim leader. The process could last weeks.
Ynet: Inside Hamas’ propaganda machine: cartoons, blacklists and covert operatives
Blocking normalization, training spokespeople, mobilizing international support and isolating Israel were among the central goals of Hamas’ propaganda apparatus, according to a new study based on documents seized in Gaza. The research, published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, examines internal Hamas files captured in the Gaza Strip. It outlines how the terrorist organization planned and operated a broad communications and influence network as an integral part of its struggle against Israel, even before the current war.
Egypt
Jerusalem Post: Drones smuggling weapons, drugs from Egypt pose serious risk to Israeli security
Cairo’s failure to tackle the exporting of weapons and drugs through drones to Israel is likely contributing to both the Arab crime crisis and empowering terrorist acts against Israel, two former diplomats told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. Ambassador David Govrin, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Reichman University, told the Post that Israel was dedicating significant energy to tackling the threat, which has only grown in recent years as technology has continued to develop.
Iran
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s top crony has said Iran is “ready” for the doomsday scenario of sustained Trump-sanctioned strikes. The country’s leadership has been putting up a brave front as an armada and fleet of fighter jets – the biggest US military build-up in the region since the Iraq war – gather on Tehran’s doorstep. This includes the world’s largest warship – the USS Gerald R. Ford – which was today spotted arriving at Souda Bay on the island of Crete, Greece. Counterterrorism bosses have warned that Iran’s bloodthirsty proxies – al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – are primed to unleash retaliatory terror against the West.
Iraq
Kurdistan 24: Iraq’s FM Meets U.S. Special Envoy to Discuss Regional Security and Counter-Terrorism
Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, met on Monday with U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack and his delegation in Baghdad to discuss bilateral relations, regional security developments, and ongoing government formation processes, officials said. The meeting focused on counter-terrorism cooperation, Iraq’s role in regional stability, and diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iraq.
Israel
Haaretz: Report: Israel Prisons Chief Hosted Tour at Jail Housing Hamas Terrorists
Worshippers from a Jerusalem synagogue frequented by the head of the Israel Prison Service were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the prisons housing detainees from Hamas' elite unit that invaded Israel on October 7, according to a new report. The report, published by Channel 12 News on Sunday, comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding prison chief Kobi Yaakobi, who authorities are considering putting on trial, subject to a hearing. The report says the trip was hosted by Yaakobi.
Four Arab Israeli citizens were arrested on suspicion of planning a terror attack targeting IDF soldiers in Karmiel, Israeli law enforcement authorities said on Monday. In a joint statement by Israel Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), it was revealed that four suspects from northern Israel, including two minors, were suspected of having conspired to commit a shooting attack against IDF soldiers in Karmiel.
Israel Hayom: Report: Iran-linked terror plots targeting Israeli embassies abroad
An Israeli source quoted on the Saudi television channel Al-Hadath warned that the threat level facing Israeli diplomatic missions abroad is extremely high, with multiple warnings of planned attacks. According to the Israeli source, "We may evacuate several of our embassies." He added, "We have raised the readiness threshold at our embassies in Europe, the Far East, and Latin America."
Times of Israel: Smotrich: Hamas will soon be given ultimatum to disarm, or IDF will go in
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tells Kan news that “It is estimated that in the coming days, Hamas will be given an ultimatum to disarm and fully demilitarize Gaza.” Smotrich indicates this ultimatum will be made by Washington. “We have not given up on destroying Hamas. We are giving President [Trump] a chance to do it in his own way.”
Lebanon
Associated Press: Israeli airstrikes in eastern Lebanon kill 8 Hezbollah members, officials say
Israeli airstrikes on eastern Lebanon have killed eight members of the militant Hezbollah group, including several local officials, two officials with the group said Saturday. The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 10, but did not distinguish between militants and civilians. The Hezbollah officials told The Associated Press that the eight militants were killed in strikes near the village of Rayak in northeast Lebanon late Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about such details.
Times of Israel: Report: IRGC running Hezbollah, preparing it for war with Israel if US strikes Iran
Officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have effectively taken charge of Hezbollah in anticipation of a war with the US and Israel, Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya reported Saturday, as Lebanese officials were said to assail the possibility of their country getting dragged into battle.
Cote d'Ivoire
Fox News: Americans warned of al Qaeda-linked terrorist presence in popular vacation getaway
The U.S. Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivory Coast, has reissued a "Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution" travel advisory, adding a note about safety concerns in the popular African destination. "Exercise increased caution in Côte d’Ivoire due to crime, terrorism, unrest, health and piracy in nearby waters," according to the advisory that was reposted Feb. 18.
Australia
CAM News: Synagogue Deliberately Rammed in Antisemitic Attack in Brisbane, Australia
A man deliberately drove a truck into the gate of a synagogue in central Brisbane, Australia, on Friday night in what police were investigating as a hate crime. Security footage showed a 32-year-old man arriving at the synagogue and reversing his vehicle into the entrance. As a result, the collision dented one gate and ripped the other from its hinges.
JNS: Australian teen assaulted in suspected antisemitic attack
Victorian police are investigating a suspected antisemitic assault on an 18-year-old man who was allegedly punched in the face at a Scouts camp while wearing a yarmulke and carrying an Israeli flag, Australia’s 9News reported on Monday. Police said Joshua Levy was first verbally abused by an unknown man while walking at Lardner Park in West Gippsland about 2 p.m. on Saturday, then later assaulted by the same person in a crowd of about 300 people at around 9 p.m. Levy suffered bruising around his nose and swelling to his cheek and reported the incident to police the following day with his father, 9News said.
Technology
All the things that make video games great, like immersion, connectivity and identity-building, also make them prime real estate for bad actors. The United Nations is taking this challenge head-on in an attempt to fight terrorist and violent extremist organizations, like ISIS and Boko Haram, that have for years used games to spread propaganda, recruit members and form communities. In collaboration with member governments in Japan and Australia, the games industry and Northeastern University, the U.N.-backed effort is looking to fight fire with fire, using video games to combat violent extremism.
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