Eye on Extremism: July 15, 2026
Top Stories
France 24: Iran threatens to cut off vital seaways in response to Trump's renewed blockade
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other export corridors that benefit the US and its allies”, Iranian media reported, after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports. “Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s IRNA state news agency on Wednesday.
Times of Israel: Jewish school enrollment in Diaspora said to rise amid uptick in antisemitism
In the face of rising antisemitism, enrollment in Jewish schools is growing across much of the Diaspora, according to new data released by the Yael Foundation. Of the 145 Jewish educational institutions the organizations supports in more than 45 countries, 52% have seen enrollment numbers rise, while 26% maintained stable student numbers, the report says.
Analysis
Reuters: Why Iranian, Houthi threats to Red Sea shipping matter more for oil now
Iran has warned that its campaign to throttle global energy markets could be expanded from the Strait of Hormuz to the vital Red Sea route if U.S. attacks continue, a threat that depends on its Houthi allies in Yemen.
Iran International: One flight, two chokepoints: why Iran wants an air bridge to Yemen
An Iranian plane landing in Houthi-controlled Yemen looked like an oddly minor victory for Tehran. But it may have been the opening move in an effort to rebuild the allied force capable of threatening a second global maritime chokepoint alongside the Strait of Hormuz.
Ynet: Under Hezbollah’s nose, an ISIS emir in Beirut shatters Lebanon’s security illusion
Analysis: While Hezbollah beats the drums of war against Israel, its systematic dismantling of the Lebanese state has turned Beirut into a safe haven for the world's most brutal Sunni jihadists; here is how Lebanon's collapse validated Israel’s uncompromising iron-wall defense doctrine
United States
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., refused to say that any attacks on Israel during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack could be justified despite repeated questioning from a far-left journalist on Tuesday. The exchange came after Drop Site reporter Jeremy Scahill asked Khanna during a livestream event about the congressman's recent claims that he was detained by armed Israeli settlers while visiting the West Bank last week.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller details the success of President Donald Trump’s stance on Iran on ‘Hannity.’
The House overwhelmingly approved legislation requiring the Department of Homeland Security to conduct emergency response exercises simulating terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure during extreme cold weather. The H.R. 3106 floor vote demonstrated bipartisan support, with the measure passing 399-7 under suspension of the rules, a procedure generally used for noncontroversial legislation.
Almost two months after two teenagers shot and killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Clairemont, a key question still doesn’t have a clear answer — was enough done to try to stop the teens’ path to extremism? A full accounting of which interventions were or were not attempted with the alleged shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, has not been publicized.
Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University pro-Palestinian protest leader, filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the Trump administration had colluded with several pro-Israel groups to prosecute him for his advocacy.
Fox 13 Tampa Bay: Florida pauses plan to label CAIR a terrorist organization after lawsuit
Florida officials are pausing their plan to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, and other groups as terrorist organizations under a new state law.
Fox 15: Gaza native arrested in Lafayette pleads not guilty to terrorism charges
A Gaza native arrested in Lafayette and accused of participating in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel pleaded not guilty in federal court to all charges. Mahmoud Al-Muhtadi, also known as Abu Ala, was arrested in October 2025 on charges that he conspired with a terrorist organization and entered the United States on a falsified visa.
Prosecutors believe a Bloomington man was threatening an act of terrorism when he allegedly said he would throw a bomb into the recreation yard of the McLean County Jail. Court documents also reveal accusations that Joel A. Perez, 36, threatened to kidnap a McLean County Sheriff’s sergeant and eat him alive “Lecter style”. That was an apparent reference to the fictional cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter.
CT Insider: Patriot Front sign removed from Tolland utility pole as state police investigate
A sign containing anti-immigrant language was removed from a utility pole in Tolland Monday night, an official said. Tricia Taskey Modifica, a spokesperson for Eversource, which owns the pole at the Exit 68 commuter lot on state Route 195 that the sign was on, said the sign was removed when the resident state trooper in Tolland asked it be taken down.
ABC 13: White supremacist graffiti covered with Pac-Man on Nashville silo
For weeks, an East Nashville silo was covered in white supremacist graffiti. Now, it’s covered in Pac-Man. The silo sits on a mulch lot off South 5th Street. For more than a month, it was covered in large graffiti showing the website URL for Patriot Front, a white supremacist hate group. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the group broke off from neo-Nazi group Vanguard America after the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia.
Washington Times: Pennsylvania man indicted over YouTube threats to lawmaker, minority groups
A Shaler Township man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on 12 counts stemming from alleged violent threats posted to YouTube, U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced. Robert Hlovchiec, 32, is the sole defendant named in the indictment, which charges him with interstate threats and with influencing, impeding or retaliating against a federal official by threat, prosecutors said.
European Union
Afghanistan International: EU Engagement With Taliban Goes Beyond Technical Talks, Says MEP Neumann
European Parliament member Hannah Neumann criticised the EU’s recent meeting with Taliban representatives in Brussels, saying it was not merely “technical engagement” but a step towards politically normalising relations without holding the group accountable.
Germany
Reuters: Merz reaches out to AfD voters before pivotal German regional election
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealed to supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to judge his government on its merits ahead of an election in September that could propel the AfD to power at regional level for the first time.
Euractiv: Merz rejects European parallels on governing with far right
German history rules out any role for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a future governing coalition, Friedrich Merz, the country’s chancellor said on Wednesday. Asked about the participation of far-right or radical nationalist parties in governments such as in the Netherlands, Merz said that Germany’s Nazi past and the Holocaust rendered any comparisons or lessons meaningless.
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK's Reform calls for 'full security' for lawmakers after politician's murder
Britain's populist Reform UK called on Wednesday for all lawmakers to be given "full security" if they want it after the murder of Ann Widdecombe, a prominent member of the party led by veteran Brexit campaigner, Nigel Farage.
The Telegraph: Jewish Greens condemn party’s ‘failings’ on anti-Semitism
The Greens have failed to tackle a rise in anti-Semitism within the party, an internal report has claimed. The annual report by the Jewish Greens found that disciplinary action against members over their “behaviours or statements relating to Jews” was “variable” and did not always follow best practice.
Independent: Police ‘considering left-wing motive’ in Ann Widdecombe murder probe
Counter-terrorism police are probing whether the suspect held over Ann Widdecombe’s killing was motivated by left-wing extremism and had been plotting violence against other high-profile figures.
BBC: Village terror plot: What we know so far
It was supposed to be a chance for thousands of Muslims to come together to pray, celebrate Islam and their community, and learn more about their faith. But the UK Ijtima event at Shrubland Hall, in Barham, near Ipswich, descended into panic on Sunday morning as police, including armed officers, swarmed the scene. The weekend-long celebration, which started on Friday, was shut down by Suffolk Police after an alleged terror threat was made against the event.
CNN: On patrol with police protecting London's Jewish communities
After a string of attacks targeting the Jewish community, the British government has announced extra police forces to protect Jewish areas across the country. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joined one of the specialist teams in London's Met Police to hear how they are tackling the rise in antisemitism. Some of the video in this report is disturbing.
Afghanistan
A new survey found that 75 percent of aid organisations in Afghanistan have accepted Taliban conditions for employing women, including requiring a male guardian and gender-segregated workplaces, to continue their operations.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Times of Israel: Hamas said to demand increased financial, diplomatic support from Iranv
A delegation of top Hamas officials recently presented Tehran with a list of demands for increased diplomatic and financial support, according to a report Tuesday, as the ruling Gaza terror group seeks to strengthen its position amid an ongoing push by mediators to demilitarize the Palestinian enclave in accordance with a US-backed peace plan.
The IDF on Tuesday killed a Hamas terrorist responsible for taking the remains of three IDF soldiers hostage into the Gaza Strip during the October 7 massacre, the military confirmed on Wednesday.
Iran
IranWire: IRGC Deploys 3,000 Saberin Special Forces and Heavy Armour to Kurdistan Borders
Informed sources have told IranWire that, coinciding with the start of the third wave of U.S. strikes against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has deployed approximately 3,000 personnel from its Saberin Special Forces Unit, alongside units from the IRGC Ground Force and Aerospace Force, as well as heavy military equipment, to the border areas of Kurdistan, significantly increasing its military presence in the region.
Afghanistan International: Iranian Deputy FM Meets Taliban Governor To Boost Bilateral Ties
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahid Jalalzadeh met Taliban governor Mohammad Naeem Akhund in Nangarhar province to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in trade, agriculture and education.
Sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence has detained 13 young men in Ghor province over the past two days. The group accused them of links to Afghanistan Green Trend, the political movement led by former Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Prepare New Asylum Law Based On Sharia Principles
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees said on Wednesday it had reviewed a draft asylum law. Deputy Minister Abdul Rahman Rashid said the legislation should define the right to asylum in line with Islamic and Sharia principles.
Iraq
Kurdistan24: Hegseth Urges Iraq to Disarm Armed Groups, Praises Peshmerga Role Against ISIS
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi continued his official visit to Washington on Wednesday with high-level meetings at the Pentagon and the US Treasury Department, as Baghdad and Washington discussed strengthening security cooperation, advancing anti-corruption efforts, and expanding their partnership into the economic and financial sectors.
Shafaq News: Iraq orders banks to enforce Hezbollah-linked sanctions
Iraq's Ministry of Finance has directed all banks and affiliated state bodies to enforce US sanctions imposed separately on a network of individuals and companies linked to ISIS and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political and armed movement
Lebanon
Jerusalem Post: Hezbollah-tied individual arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel in Lebanon
An individual with close ties to Hezbollah was accused of being a “high-level Israeli agent” and arrested in Beirut last week, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse and Arab media sites earlier this week.
Naharnet: Fadlallah says Hezbollah pinning hope on Iran-US talks despite escalation
MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hezbollah on Wednesday noted that the latest Israeli war on Lebanon was “premeditated and planned” in advance, suggesting that Israel attacked south Lebanon to “occupy and destroy the area south of the Litani River, seize it, expel its inhabitants, and establish settlements, just as the enemy did in Palestine and in 1967 in the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights.”
Asharq al-Awsat: Senior ISIS Security Leader in Syria Lived ‘Semi-Permanently’ in Lebanon
A senior ISIS security official arrested in Lebanon had been living in the country on a “semi-permanent” basis, Lebanese judicial sources said. Investigators suspect he served as the group’s general security emir for its self-proclaimed Southern and Central provinces in Syria.
Yemen
A truce that ended nearly a decade of war in Yemen has mostly held since 2022. It is being severely tested four years later, as tensions tied to the war in Iran risk spilling over. The civil war in Yemen that began in 2014 eventually pitted Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country’s government. While the Iran war that began on Feb. 28 reignited all sorts of regional rivalries, the peace between the Houthis and Saudis had mostly prevailed -- until Monday.
Australia
The interim vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne (UoM) says pro-Palestine sit-ins on campus led to the institution “quite sharply” changing its protest policies and that further restrictions could arise.
Melbourne University's interim vice-chancellor Glyn Davis has claimed pro-Palestine posters spread antisemitism on campus in 2024, as the royal commission hears the extent of Jewish vilification. On Wednesday, three university vice-chancellors are facing the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.
Sydney Morning Herald: ‘ISIS bride’ allegedly urged her children to behave like terrorists
A so-called ISIS bride allegedly attempted to indoctrinate her young children with extremist propaganda and encouraged them to act like Islamic State fighters while living in Syria. Rayann El Houli faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday as her bail application continued.
Islamophobia Envoy Aftab Malik expressed concern defining terrorists by motive stigmatised the Muslim community in a submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. He suggested government officials cease using “ideological labels” in response to terror incidents and amend the definition of “terrorist act” within the criminal code.
7 News: Adelaide Jewish family targeted in antisemitic hate attack
A Jewish family of seven in Adelaide has been targeted in a hate attack, with swastikas and antisemitic messages spray-painted on their home and tyres slashed on their vehicle. The victim, Rosti Sverdlov, expressed shock at being personally targeted along with his children. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has condemned the attack, stating that Jewish Australians should not have to live in fear.
Technology
France 24: How jihadist groups like Boko Haram use AI for acts of terror
A report published by Cambridge University features in-depth interviews with dozens of former members of Nigeria’s Boko Haram explaining how the jihadist group has used artificial intelligence to improve its ability to carry out terror attacks since 2023. Experts say they are unlikely to be the only ones.
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