Eye on Extremism: July 31, 2025
Top Stories
The threat from Islamic State and al-Qaida extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a “a strategic base for external operations,” U.N. experts said in a new report. Their report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Wednesday said West Africa’s al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, known as JNIM, and East Africa’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab have continued to increase the territory under their control.
Jerusalem Post: Iran hiring criminal networks in Europe to attack Jews
Iran is "directly engaging criminal networks abroad to carry out attacks against Jewish targets and make Jews in Europe unsafe," according to the July Iran report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The report evaluates the Islamic Republic of Iran’s continued violations of freedom of religion or belief both domestically and abroad. It pays particular attention to the government’s recent targeting of religious minorities—including Baha’is, Jews, Christians, Sunnis, and other non-Muslim minority groups in the wake of a June 2025 military escalation.
CEP Mentions
Ars Technica: Substack’s “Nazi problem” won’t go away after push notification apology
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at a nonprofit non-government organization called the Counter Extremism Project, has been closely monitoring Substack's increasingly significant role in helping far-right movements spread propaganda online for years. He's calling for more transparency and changes on the platform following the latest scandal. In January, Fisher-Birch warned that neo-Nazi groups saw Donald Trump's election "as a mix of positives and negatives but overall as an opportunity to enlarge their movement." Since then, he's documented at least one Telegram channel—which currently has over 12,500 subscribers and is affiliated with the white supremacist Active Club movement—launch an effort to expand their audience by creating accounts on Substack, TikTok, and X.
DW News: Food aid in Gaza: The influence of Hamas
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed for story: The Gaza health ministry says more than 60,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the 21 months of war. These latest figures come as a group of UN-backed experts warns that the territory is now on the brink of a full-scale famine. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has again rejected claims of starvation policies in Gaza, saying the international media's focus on the topic was a 'distorted campaign of international pressure.' Israel has repeatedly said that there is no shortage of food in the Gaza strip, and that Hamas is withholding supplies from civilians.
Survival Blog: Avoiding Mass Vehicular Homicide, by R.D.J.
Research tells us that vehicle ramming became the most lethal terrorist attack method in 2016; the too-softly-named “Counter Extremism Project” published a report this year that documented 83 such attacks that resulted in 261 deaths and close to 1,500 injuries. Between 1970 and 2019, there were just over 800 fatalities and 1,800 injuries from 257 such attacks. In their twisted minds, a strategy that works is something worth doing again.
Analysis
GNET: Weaponised Skies: The Expansion of Terrorist Drone Use Across Africa
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones, have been on the rise among violent extremist and terrorist actors globally. Drones are versatile pieces of technology, ranging from their programmability, maneuverability, autonomy, flight range, sensor equipment, and various accessories such as cameras, weapons, and explosives. As a result, these types of aircraft are increasingly used in a wide variety of offensive and defensive operations. Their use includes, but is not limited to, surveillance, aircraft jamming, smuggling of illicit goods, attacks on civilians and private infrastructure, as well as military personnel and posts.
Washington Institute: Hostages of the Mind: Hamas’s Strategic Use of Captivity in Cognitive Warfare
Among its most consequential tactics was the systematic abduction of over 250 civilians and soldiers, an unprecedented scale of hostage-taking that marks a new turning point in non-state actors’ use of kidnapping in modern warfare. While hostage-taking has served multiple purposes for Hamas, the organization’s strategy of cognitive warfare transformed hostages into instruments of psychological manipulation aimed at paralyzing Israeli leadership, fracturing public unity through emotional attrition, and manipulating international narratives by weaponizing empathy.
United States
New York Times: Senate Approves Trump’s Pick for Top Counterterrorism Post
Mr. Kent, a former Army Green Beret and C.I.A. paramilitary officer, was approved as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center on a 52-to-44 party-line vote. His confirmation came despite his promotion of conspiracy theories, including that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Mr. Trump. He has said that the F.B.I. played a role in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and should be dismantled. He repeated the accusations at his confirmation hearing in April.
Reuters: US imposes sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members
The United States imposed sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Thursday, saying the groups are undermining peace efforts as U.S. officials separately seek to salvage ceasefire talks in Gaza, opens new tab. The move prevents those targeted from receiving visas to travel to the United States, the U.S. State Department said, although it did not list any specific individuals.
The Telegraph: Israel-Gaza crisis could trigger 9/11-style terror attack, Republicans warn
The Israel-Gaza crisis could trigger another 9/11-style terror attack on US soil, Republicans fear. The worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza risks undermining America’s standing in the Middle East and radicalising would-be terrorists to target the US, a senior congressional aide told The Telegraph.
Reuters: US Senate rejects bids to block arms sales to Israel over Gaza
Two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to Israel in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, although they garnered more support than similar measures earlier this year. The two resolutions were introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent aligned with Democrats. They failed by 73 to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber in voting late on Wednesday night.
Nashville Judge Steve Dozier sentenced Ryan McCann, a member of a neo-Nazi group that descended on Nashville in the summer of 2024, to a total of 45 months in prison stemming from two attacks on young men downtown. McCann was convicted at a June 2025 jury trial of assault and civil rights intimidation for attacking a man with Jewish heritage during a heated altercation on July 13, 2024. He pleaded guilty two days before sentencing to misdemeanor assault for striking a bartender with a flagpole on Lower Broadway on July 14, 2024.
Near the end of an antisemitism training video that Northwestern University students are required to watch, the narrator urges viewers to play a guessing game. Six statements pop on to the screen – the viewer must choose whether they were made by “anti-Israel activists” or the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Among the statements: “Every time I read Hitler, I fall in love again.” The video reveals that the statement was made by an “anti-Israel activist”. The narrator then states: “The fact that you can’t tell the difference is terrifying.” He adds that for most Jews, being anti-Israel and antisemitic “are the same”.
An Oakland coffee shop accused by the U.S. Department of Justice in a civil rights lawsuit of antisemitic discrimination is pushing back against allegations its employees and owner harassed and denied service to Jewish people. Jerusalem Coffee House owner Abdulrahim Harara decried the lawsuit, as well as another related suit, at a Wednesday morning press conference.
Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright (D-Manhattan) hosted a town hall Tuesday evening at the Upper East Side’s Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, gathering rabbis, Jewish advocates, and educators to speak on a panel about antisemitism. The panel focused on the rise in antisemitic incidents in New York City and across the United States since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Panelists discussed a rise in anti-Israel sentiment and emphasized the need for security, education, and strict policy enforcement on college campuses to effectively combat antisemitism.
Canada
Reuters: Canada plans to recognize Palestinian state, raising allies' pressure on Israel
Canada plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza. The announcement came after France said last week it would recognize a Palestinian state and a day after Britain said it would recognize the state at September's U.N. General Assembly meeting if the fighting in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, had not stopped by then.
Germany
WELT: "Considerable radicalization" - Teenager sentenced for Islamist attack plan
According to the court, a teenager from Elmshorn meticulously planned an Islamist-motivated attack. The trial ends with him being placed in a specialized residential group for two years. The then 17-year-old was arrested in Elmshorn last November following information from the US secret service. According to earlier information from the public prosecutor's office, state security officers from the Schleswig-Holstein State Office of Criminal Investigation investigated the teenager and found him to be "considerably radicalized". His Islamist extremist attitude ultimately led to "sufficiently concrete plans for an attack", as was stated at the time. Details were not disclosed, not even by the court.
WDR: More juvenile suspects in right-wing extremist crimes
The number of young suspects of right-wing extremist crime in NRW has almost tripled within a year. This is according to an answer from the state Ministry of the Interior to a question from the SPD in the state parliament, quoted by the news agency dpa. This shows that politically motivated crime from the right remains a central challenge for internal security in North Rhine-Westphalia, explained NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU). According to the Criminal Police Reporting Service, the number of suspects aged 14 to 17 recorded by the police in the area of politically right-wing motivated crime rose from 106 to 299 in 2024 compared to the previous year. The focus continues to be on the dissemination of propaganda material and the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations, Reul announced.
Associated Press: How an LGBTQ+ cafe’s neon sign became a beacon for hate in Berlin
A neon sign inside the Das Hoven cafe in a trendy Berlin neighborhood proudly proclaims “QUEER AND FRIENDS.” The sign was intended to show the cafe is a safe space for LGBTQ+ people. But it has also become a beacon for hate and homophobic attacks.
Sweden
Reuters: Swedish man found guilty in killing of Jordanian fighter pilot in Syria
A Swedish man was found guilty of serious war crimes and terrorism on Thursday over his role in the murder of a Jordanian air force pilot who was burned to death in Syria a decade ago, the Stockholm district court said in a verdict. The Swede, identified in court documents as Osama Krayem, was sentenced to life in prison for participating in the execution of Muath al-Kasasbeh, who was burned alive in a cage after being captured in Syria in December 2014. Krayem, 32, has previously been convicted of involvement in attacks in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels in 2016, and was transferred to Sweden from France to stand trial in Stockholm.
United Kingdom
Reuters: No evidence of malign activity in UK air travel disruption, minister says
A technical problem that affected over a hundred flights across UK airports on Wednesday was an isolated event with no evidence of malign activity, transport minister Heidi Alexander said, as airlines worked to clear the backlog on Thursday. National Air Traffic Services (NATS) restored its systems, with capacity returning to normal, late on Wednesday after switching to a back-up system following what it described as a radar-related failure.
Afghanistan
Amu: UN agency: Taliban interference has halted hundreds of aid projects
More than 240 humanitarian projects in Afghanistan were suspended in the first half of this year because of Taliban interference, gender restrictions and administrative obstacles, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report, warning that relief efforts for millions of Afghans risk collapsing altogether. OCHA said 245 aid activities were halted between January and June, mostly in central, southern and western Afghanistan. The suspensions followed 489 reported access incidents, ranging from the detention of aid workers to restrictions on women’s employment.
Amu: Taliban release journalist after six months in custody
Islam Totakhil, a journalist with Radio Jawanan, has been released after spending six months in Taliban prison, sources said on Thursday. Totakhil was detained by Taliban intelligence forces in January, when the Taliban shuttered the offices of Radio Jawanan and Radio Begum in Kabul. He was subjected to torture during his detention, sources said.
Amu: Taliban dismiss more than 200 former police officers in Jawzjan: Sources
Taliban have dismissed at least 211 police officers and employees linked to the former government from their posts in the northern province of Jawzjan, local sources said on Wednesday. The individuals, many of them former security personnel who continued working under Taliban rule after the group’s return to power in 2021, were ordered to hand over government equipment and property, the sources said.
Gaza Strip
Reuters: GHF aid system in Gaza is a 'scandal, and shameful' says French foreign minister
France's foreign minister said on Thursday a U.S. and Israel-backed aid distribution system in Gaza had generated a "bloodbath" and had to cease activity. "I want to call for the cessation of the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the militarised distribution of humanitarian aid that has generated a bloodbath in distribution lines in Gaza, which is a scandal, which is shameful, and has to stop," Foreign and European Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after meeting his Cyprus counterpart in Nicosia.
Iran
Times of Israel: Iran’s Post-Strike Outlook
The achievements of the United States and Israel during the 12 Day War with Iran should not only be measured in terms of physical damage. They also likely had an impact on the Iranian leadership’s decision-making calculus across nuclear and non-nuclear domains. The story has not yet been written on both the latter and the former as battle damage assessments and Iranian positions take shape. However, rather than any dramatic change in Tehran—racing for the bomb or forfeiting its nuclear program and aggression altogether—the Iranian leadership is more likely to muddle through.
Iran International: 'IAEA is eye of Mossad and CIA,' Supreme Leader's daily says
The Supreme Leader-affiliated newspaper, Kayhan, has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of acting as a tool for Western intelligence, following new legislation last month that imposed restrictions on the UN nuclear watchdog's activities in the country. “When the IAEA effectively plays the role of America and the Zionist regime’s eyes, Iran must firmly resolve to blind the eyes of Mossad and the CIA,” the paper said on Monday, citing espionage devices allegedly hidden in personal belongings.
Israel
Israel has issued a formal response to a position paper sent by Hamas several days ago, where Israeli officials made it clear they reject Hamas’s demand to release live terrorists in exchange for the bodies of hostages. Hamas has informed mediators that it will not enter negotiations with Israel until the humanitarian situation in Gaza improves, according to two sources who spoke with The Jerusalem Post. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed partial annexation of the Gaza Strip as a potential course of action if hostage deal talks fail, during a Monday small cabinet meeting – an Israeli source confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
Reuters: Trump's envoy meets Netanyahu for Gaza aid, ceasefire push
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in a bid to salvage Gaza truce talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine is unfolding. Shortly after Witkoff's arrival, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social network: "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!"
Times of Israel: IDF footage shows apparent Hamas attempt to ambush, kidnap soldiers
Footage circulating on social media shows an attempt by Hamas to carry out an attack on forces in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis yesterday, with an unusually large cell of at least 12 gunmen. The military assesses that the operatives, armed with assault rifles and RPGs, sought to kidnap troops.
Jewish News Syndicate: IDF downs Houthi drone from Yemen
The Israeli Air Force on Wednesday evening intercepted a drone launched by Houthi terrorists in Yemen, the military said. The Israel Defense Forces noted that sirens were activated in accordance with protocol. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Wall Street Journal: Wider Recognition of a Palestinian State Leaves Israel More Isolated
Recognition of a Palestinian state by a growing number of Western allies will have little material impact in Israel or the Palestinian territories. But it does expose significant cracks in Western support for Israel that was once regarded as rock solid. The longer the war in Gaza drags on, with mounting civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis, the deeper those cracks could grow, driven in part by politicians responding to public opinion in their countries that has turned sharply against Israel’s campaign in the Palestinian enclave.
Wall Street Journal: Why Israel and Hamas Won’t Stop Fighting
Israel wrapped up its campaign against Iran in 12 days. It finished its fight with the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in two months. But after nearly two years of fighting, Israel’s war in Gaza continues. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gazan health ministry. A deadly hunger crisis has taken hold. Many of the roughly two million people trapped inside Gaza struggle daily to find food, shelter and medical care. Vast swaths of the Strip have been reduced to mounds of concrete and rebar.
Times of Israel: Top ministers Levin, Katz declare time now ripe to annex West Bank
Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defense Minister Israel Katz say that the current moment represents an opportunity to annex the West Bank, claiming that the groundwork for the explosively controversial move has already been laid.
Lebanon
Reuters: Lebanon's President Aoun urges Hezbollah to give up arms
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun called on Hezbollah and other political parties on Thursday to hand over their weapons to the army, a move the powerful militant group is resisting as Washington ramps up pressures for it to remove its arsenal. "It is the duty of all political parties... to seize this historic opportunity without hesitation and push for the exclusivity of weapons in the hands of the army and security forces and no one else," Aoun said in a televised speech in the defence ministry's headquarters. "Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel ... We will not submit to Israel," the group's chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday.
Reuters: Hezbollah chief rejects disarmament as pressure on Lebanon grows
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that calls for the Iran-aligned militant group's disarmament served only Israel, as the United States ramps up pressure for steps to remove its arsenal. "Those who call for submitting arms practically demand submitting them to Israel ... We will not submit to Israel," Qassem said in a televised address. Hezbollah emerged badly damaged from a war with Israel last year that eliminated most of the group's leadership, killed thousands of its fighters and left tens of thousands of its supporters displaced from their destroyed homes.
Naharnet: No fuel, no wheat and bombs all over if Lebanon keeps Hezbollah arms, report warns
The threats against Lebanon due to failing to hand over Hezbollah’s arms will not be limited to military action, Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying Thursday. “Lebanon risks being put on the (Financial Action Task Force’s) black list and facing economic pressure due to Hezbollah’s arms,” the sources said.
Naharnet: Salam says no turning back on arms monopoly decision
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said there will be no turning back on the state's decision to be the sole bearer of arms, as pressure increases from Washington and domestically to disarm Hezbollah. In an interview, published Thursday in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Salam said that it is natural for the state's monopoly on arms to be discussed in the next cabinet session, in implementation of the Taif Agreement and the ceasefire agreement reached in late November with Israel. He said U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's paper provided practical ideas for this.
Syria
Daily Sabah: Türkiye pledges counterterrorism support for Syriav
Their future intertwined, Türkiye and Syria weigh further cooperation in the post-Assad era, amid concerns regarding the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG. Sources from the Defense Ministry on Thursday said Ankara would continue supporting Syria’s political unity and territorial integrity and, to that extent, would provide training and technical support upon request by the Syrian administration, to enhance their capacity for the fight against terrorist groups. Sources said Türkiye was closely monitoring the integration of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing, YPG, into the Syrian army “in the field.”
Yemen
Hiiraan Online: Yemen's Houthis claim launching 5 drones at Israeli military targets
Yemen's Houthi group said in a televised statement late Wednesday that it launched five drones toward three Israeli military targets earlier in the evening. In the statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, the group's military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said the five drones struck military targets in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and the Negev.
Yemen Online: Yemen : Houthis say they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport
Yemen’s Houthi group said Tuesday that it launched a hypersonic ballistic missile at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. In a prerecorded statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the group had “successfully struck Lod Airport (Ben Gurion) in the occupied Jaffa area” with a “Palestine 2” hypersonic ballistic missile, adding that the attack caused mass panic and flight disruptions.
Burkina Faso
West Africa Democracy Radio: Terror attack kills soldiers at Burkina Faso army base
Burkina Faso is reeling from a deadly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of several army personnel in the northern province of Boulsa. The assault, which occurred on Monday, targeted a military base in the conflict-prone region. Eyewitnesses report that heavily armed insurgents stormed the base, looting supplies and destroying key facilities before retreating. The scale of destruction has left both soldiers and civilians in shock.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Reuters: UN says Congo rebels killed scores of farmers, M23 suggests 'smear'
An M23 rebel attack on farmers and other civilians in east Democratic Republic of Congo killed 169 people earlier this month, a U.N. body told Reuters, in what would be one of the deadliest incidents since the Rwanda-backed group's resurgence. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters it would investigate but the report could be a "smear campaign". The U.N. rights body's account has not been previously reported and emerged as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration pushes for peace between Congo and Rwanda that it hopes will unlock billions in mineral investments.
Kenya
Reuters: Kenyan court orders exhumations in suspected cult-related deaths
A Kenyan court has ordered the exhumation of bodies suspected to belong to people who were starved and suffocated in the same county where hundreds of members of a doomsday cult were found dead two years ago, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The bodies in the new case are believed to be buried in shallow graves on the outskirts of Malindi in southeastern Kenya's Kilifi County, and 11 suspects are being investigated, Kenya's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said on X.
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