Eye on Extremism: July 22, 2026
Top Stories
Fox News: Rubio accuses Iran of flying IRGC personnel into Yemen as Houthi threat escalates
Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran on Wednesday of flying members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into Yemen, saying Tehran’s actions helped ignite a renewed confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. "They decided to send direct flights from Tehran into Yemen, carrying IRGC elements and others into the country," Rubio told reporters. "And the Saudis responded to it."
A few years ago, the young Jewish children attending an annual youth camp in NSW cried at night because they were homesick. But after the Bondi terror attack, the children were crying for a different reason, a Jewish youth group leader said in her evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Wednesday.
CEP Mentions
However, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project said he did not find that explanation convincing, saying: 'The personnel links to the Hamas leadership are too close.'
Analysis
EU Today: Why Europe’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy Needs a Digital Reset
For much of the past two decades, Europe’s counter-terrorism strategy has been built around identifying organisations, disrupting networks and intercepting communications between known extremists. Europol’s European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2026 suggests that model, while still necessary, is becoming increasingly insufficient. The threat has evolved faster than many institutions designed to combat it.
United States
The New York Times: Man Who Attacked Salman Rushdie Faces Terrorism Charges in Federal Trial
In August 2022, a young man gripping a knife rushed onstage at an idyllic retreat in Western New York. His eyes were trained on the author Salman Rushdie. The man, Hadi Matar, had been enraged by the work of Mr. Rushdie, who had long been a target of Islamic extremists. In 1989, the government of Iran called for Mr. Rushdie’s killing after he published “The Satanic Verses,” a novel that depicted a fictionalized version of the Prophet Muhammad, outraging many Muslims.
Alexander Vindman, a former Army officer who became nationally known as a National Security Council whistleblower during the first Trump administration and is now running for Senate in Florida as a Democrat, called out rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on the left in a Zoom meeting with the Florida Democratic Party Jewish Caucus on Tuesday.
In Depth NH: Neo Nazis Seek Deal in Civil Rights State Case
After years of refusing to comply with court orders, Christopher Hood and his Neo Nazi group NSC-131, are working on a deal to end the civil rights lawsuit brought by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
New York City’s young Republicans are under scrutiny again, after New York magazine published “The New York Young Republican Club Has an Antisemitism Problem” today. The story detailed antisemitic rhetoric shared online by an account appearing to belong to the club’s former treasurer (which he denied was his), as well as a photo of him making what looks like a Nazi salute (which he called doctored).
Times of Israel: US court overturns order releasing pro-Palestinian Columbia activist Mohsen Mahdawi
A US federal appeals panel on Tuesday reversed a lower court decision ordering the release of pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, opening the door to the re-arrest of a student protest organizer whom the Trump administration has spent more than a year trying to deport.
Times of Israel: Jewish caucus demands apology for US College Democrats’ hosting of Hasan Piker
The Jewish caucus of the College Democrats of America on Tuesday condemned the organization for hosting the far-left, anti-Zionist streamer Hasan Piker at the group’s national convention over the weekend. The College Democrats of America is a campus activist group that says it has more than 100,000 members at colleges across the US. The group hosted Piker, who has a history of extremist, far-left rhetoric, at its national conference in Washington, DC, on Saturday.
JTA: Theater manager who added ‘the Jews’ to ‘Odyssey’ marquee calls antisemitism ‘exaggerated’
The manager of a movie theater in suburban Portland, Oregon, is defending a cryptic marquee message about Jews and “The Odyssey” by saying modern-day antisemitism is “exaggerated” to help Israel. “Before there were the Jews, there was … ‘The Odyssey,’” said the marquee at the Lake Theater and Cafe in Lake Oswego.
A man is facing terroristic threats charges after authorities say he made numerous “alarming” threats of bombing and shooting, including toward Vernon Hills High School and a church in South Barrington. Ryan Kang, 26, of Vernon Hills, was charged with two counts of terrorism by false threat, a Class 1 felony.
Canada
Reports of hate-related incidents and crimes in Hamilton went up again in 2025, and police say Black, Jewish and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities continue to be targeted most often. A report from Hamilton police issued this week shows there were a total of 332 hate-based occurrences reported in the city last year, an increase of 12 per cent from 2024 that continues an upward trend in Hamilton over the last six years.
Armenia
AzerNEWS: UN experts scrutinize Armenia's counter-terrorism cases against opposition figures
A group of six United Nations human rights experts has expressed concern over Armenia's use of counter-terrorism legislation against members of the opposition Holy Struggle movement and the police response to anti-government protests in 2024, warning that the measures could be inconsistent with the country's international human rights obligations, AzerNEWS reports.
Austria
The Independent: House where Hitler was born becomes police station to deter neo-Nazi visitors
The building where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 has begun its new life as a police station. The large, terraced house, in the town of Braunau am Inn near the Austrian border with Germany, was previously in private ownership and had housed a charity for disabled people.
Germany
Afghanistan International: Germany To Continue Deporting Convicted Afghans, Says Interior Minister
Germany’s federal interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has said the government will continue deporting convicted asylum seekers to Afghanistan following a deadly knife attack in Trier. Dobrindt said in Berlin on Monday that deporting offenders to countries such as Afghanistan was necessary and unavoidable and that the government would not retreat from the policy.
Sweden
A Swedish Jewish consultant has claimed he suffered antisemitic abuse from a colleague at a Meliva health clinic in Stockholm, and that his contract was ended after he reported it. In an interview with Swedish paper Expressen last week, Gregory-Zvi Wirschubsky, 69, recounted an incident that took place in a cafeteria of a Meliva clinic.
United Kingdom
JTA: Where does Andy Burnham, the new British prime minister, stand on Israel and antisemitism?
Andy Burnham officially became Britain’s new Labour prime minister on Monday, replacing Keir Starmer who resigned following the party’s disastrous showing in local elections in May. Starmer left behind a mixed record on antisemitism. He purged the party of its image as hostile to Jews under former party leader Jeremy Corbyn. But at the same time, attacks against Jews in Britain have risen in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, and uncertainty is at a high.
Middle East
Times of Israel: Iranian missiles target Jordan, interception explosions boom over Eilat
Iran fired missiles and drones at Jordan on Wednesday, including at the Red Sea port of Aqaba, with Amman saying that they were intercepted. Explosions from some of the shoot-downs were heard in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
Times of Israel: Meeting Trump in DC, Aoun says Lebanon will end hostility with Israel ‘forever’
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, where he declared that his country will permanently end hostilities with Israel and asked for backing in his efforts to disarm Hezbollah. At the meeting, Trump said he would be open to speaking directly with the Iran-backed terror group if Beirut asked.
Naharnet: Rubio says Syria must tackle internal challenges, not fight Hezbollah
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday dismissed the possibility of a Syrian military intervention against Hezbollah in Lebanon, a scenario that President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated in recent months. “Well, the Syrian authorities are not big fans of Hezbollah, but what we’ve encouraged Syria to do is to focus on its own internal challenges that it has in sort of building a nation-state. They still face pretty substantial challenges and threats from within – I mean ISIS remains a threat there,” said Rubio in response to a question at the ASEAN summit.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Orders Armed Men in Badakhshan’s Darwaz to Surrender Weapons
Local sources in Badakhshan told Afghanistan International that the Taliban has ordered gunmen loyal to dissident local commander Juma Khan Fateh in Shekay and Nusay districts to surrender their weapons as soon as possible. Shekay and Nusay are located in Badakhshan’s Darwaz region, where Fateh is also from.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Tightens Restrictions On Former President Karzai, Say Sources
Sources told Afghanistan International that former president Hamid Karzai is barred by the Taliban from travelling even to his native Kandahar and faces tight restrictions on his movements and meetings. The sources told Afghanistan International on Wednesday, 22 July, that restrictions on Karzai have intensified in recent months, with tighter controls imposed on his domestic travel and political meetings.
Afghanistan International: Badakhshan Mine Workers Protest Taliban Ban On Mining
A number of mine workers in Badakhshan protested on Tuesday over the Taliban’s continued closure of mining sites, saying Taliban forces threatened and beat some workers and ignored their demands. The protesters told Afghanistan International that mining workshops belonging to low-income individuals have been shut for about a month, while sites linked to powerful figures continue to operate.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Jerusalem Post: Hamas strengthens grip on Gaza through clan leaders, local committees – report
Hamas terrorists have been working to systematically tighten their ties with clan and tribal leaders in the Gaza Strip to strengthen their position before the slated technocratic administration takes control of the area, KAN Reshet Bet reported on Wednesday.
Israel
Fox News: The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has told Fox News Digital that soccer players representing the Palestinian Authority it targeted with military strikes were allegedly also working as terrorists for Hamas and Jihadist groups. "In recent weeks, false claims have been circulated alleging that the IDF deliberately targeted innocent Palestinian soccer players throughout the war," the IDF said in a statement to Fox News Digital. IDF says Palestinian soccer players it targeted served Hamas and Jihad terror groups
Fox News: Israel's new exhibit exposes years of Hamas terrorist planning before Oct 7 massacre
The "Return to October" exhibition offers an immersive reconstruction of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, combining video with declassified Israel Defense Forces intelligence and planning materials recovered in the Gaza Strip that reveal how the Palestinian terrorist group planned and carried out its cross-border assault.
Jerusalem Post: Israel seeks to revoke citizenship of two men convicted in Hamas Cellcom cyber plot
The prosecution filed a precedent-setting request on Wednesday to revoke the Israeli citizenship of two security prisoners convicted of plotting to help Hamas disable Cellcom’s communications network during a future war or military operation.
Lebanon
The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Puts Once-Unthinkable Ideas on the Table to Disarm Hezbollah
Israel has battered the Lebanese militia Hezbollah over two years of fighting. Many Lebanese are turning against the militant group. And there is growing consensus in Beirut that Hezbollah must finally be forced to give up its weapons. But American, Israeli and Lebanese officials are finding there are no easy options to disarm a U.S.-designated terrorist group that is embedded in society and bound to its cause with religious zeal.
Naharnet: Hajj Hassan in first Hezbollah comment on Aoun-Trump talks
MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan of Hezbollah on Wednesday noted that "what happened in Washington in the summit between President Joseph Aoun and U.S. President Donald Trump amounted to nothing more than a general American rhetoric and promises without guarantees, without specifying any timeframe for redeployment, and without achieving any progress or accomplishments."
Naharnet: Aoun says disarming Hezbollah has requirements to fulfill
President Joseph Aoun has said that ever since he assumed his post, the state has “worked decisively toward one goal: one state, one army, and putting an end to all illegal armed groups operating outside the state's authority.”
Azerbaijan
Enab Baladi: Azerbaijan Repatriates 16 Citizens from Syria
The Azerbaijani government announced that it repatriated 16 citizens, including seven women and nine children, from Syria on July 18 and 19. The Azerbaijan State News Agency, citing the Foreign Ministry on Monday, July 20, said the operation followed phased and coordinated procedures carried out by the relevant government bodies.
India
The New Indian Express: ED conducts raids in Bengaluru over alleged ISIS recruitment funding
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru zone, is conducting search operations at eight premises in an ECIR based on an FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the case of ISIS recruitment involving Iqra Welfare Trust, Guidance for Mankind and other individuals based in the city.
Pakistan
Security forces have killed 10 terrorists and arrested two female suicide bombers along with a facilitator during two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Balochistan’s Surab and Mastung districts over the past 48 hours, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday.
Africa
Modern Ghana: Terrorism in Sahel demands coordinated response — African Union
The African Union (AU) has condemned the terrorist attacks that targeted the armed forces of Niger and Mali on July 17 and 18. The continental body described the incidents as a serious setback to security and stability in the Sahel region.
Fox News: Nigerian pastor highlighted by Trump says he’s next after militia kills his relatives
A Nigerian Pastor highlighted by President Trump on social media, says that nine members of his family have been killed. The minister is an outspoken critic of the killing of Christians by radicalized Muslim members of the Fulani militia. Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo now says that the same militia has issued a death threat against him. Dachom
Australia
Nine News: Australian doctor who joined ISIS found alive in Iraq
An Adelaide-trained doctor who left Australia to join the Islamic State terrorist group has been reportedly found alive in a Baghdad prison almost a decade after he was believed to have been killed. Dubbed “Dr Jihad”, Tareq Kamleh was a Perth-born pediatrician who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State and work in its health and propaganda units.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says a Perth man who served as an Islamic State doctor should be barred from returning to Australia, as a senior government minister has declared the man should "rot in jail" following reports he is still alive in Iraq.
Times Higher Education: New approaches needed to tackle antisemitism, universities told
Australian universities may need to appoint “internal ombudsmen” to referee campus disputes, after a bruising week of Royal Commission hearings exposed the difficulty of ensuring safety in a polarised world. Marketing consultant Tim Winkler said vice-chancellors’ apologies over their handling of pro-Palestinian protests demonstrated that they had an antisemitism problem that they were unlikely to solve by simply updating their policies.
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