Eye on Extremism: June 12, 2026
Top Stories
Fox News: Expert warns of 'general escalation' of fighting if Houthis resume Red Sea campaign
The U.S. has hit back against threats to now block another Middle East waterway by Iranian terror proxy, the Houthis. Earlier this week, the group declared a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships using the Red Sea, declaring them to be "legitimate targets."
A suspected suicide bomber was shot dead by residents after a motorcycle laden with explosives detonated outside a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern Lakki Marwat district on Friday, killing two people, including a girl, and wounding 10 others.
CEP Mentions
Partners to the project include, among others, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Poland), the Center for Community Organizing (Slovakia), the Counter Extremism Project (Germany), Political Capital (Hungary), the Theresienstadt Center for Genocide Studies (Czech Republic), and the Violence Prevention Network (Germany).
RBB24: International organization against extremism wants to expand Goebbels' villa
An international anti-extremism organization plans to develop the area around Bogensee in Wandlitz (Barnim) into a center against antisemitism and hate speech. This was announced on Wednesday by Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH. The non-profit, transatlantic organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP), headquartered in New York, intends to focus exclusively on the former, landmarked country house of Joseph Goebbels. The estate was built for the Nazi propaganda minister.
NTV: Desperate Trump "is currently heading towards an Obama deal"
Neither Iran nor the US can afford further attacks in the long term, says Hans-Jakob Schindler. According to the security expert, a nuclear deal on the part of the US is currently the most realistic option – modeled entirely on the nuclear agreement of his predecessor, which Trump has always criticized.
Analysis
As a landmark tool for tracking the group’s activity hits another sobering milestone, U.S. officials cannot let regional crises completely overshadow important shifts in jihadist threats around the world.
United States
Jewish Insider: Los Angeles teachers union faces backlash over expulsion of Jewish teacher
Some pro-Israel members of the United Teachers Los Angeles House of Representatives are condemning the union for bypassing its own policies to expel a Jewish teacher and Zionist activist. During a June 3 meeting held on Zoom, the union’s House of Representatives — the highest voting body in the union — voted to expel Amy Leserman, who retired as a Los Angeles public school teacher last year and now works at a local Jewish day school.
570 KVI: Washington Human Rights Commissioner Goes On Anti-Jewish Tirade During Antisemitism Debate
A Washington State Human Rights Commissioner launched into a series of remarks invoking antisemitic tropes while opposing a commission resolution condemning antisemitism, questioning why Jews receive special attention, and claiming Jewish people are “always crying” about discrimination and falsely accusing Jews of killing “millions” of Arabs. The Washington State Human Rights Commission on Wednesday posted video from a March 2025 meeting in which commissioners debated a proposed resolution addressing the rise in antisemitism.
The U.S. Department of Justice expanded its civil rights lawsuit against Harvard University on Monday, adding new allegations that Jewish and Israeli students faced discrimination, harassment and unequal treatment on campus.
The FBI and the Department of Justice have labeled a Texas-based extremist group as a national security threat. The 764 extremist group was started in Stephenville, Texas in 2021 by a 15-year-old. It's named after the zip code of the city it's based in. That teen founder, now an adult, is serving an 80-year prison sentence for child pornography.
Canada
A Toronto Police Service officer was shot and killed Thursday morning while executing a search warrant in relation to a US consulate shooting that has been tied to an Iranian proxy group. Police Constable Marc Pinizzotto was shot during the operation, and despite the efforts of medical services, the Emergency Task Force officer died at Sunnybrook hospital.
Ynet: Canada antisemitism czar says he doesn't believe Hamas seeks Israel's destruction
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing criticism after appointing former Cabinet minister and member of Parliament Omar Alghabra to a new federal advisory council on antisemitism, despite past controversial comments about Hamas and other groups hostile to Israel. Alghabra has previously been quoted as saying he did not believe Hamas sought Israel’s destruction. He also expressed reservations about designating the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades as a terrorist organization.
European Union
Afghanistan International: No Choice but To Talk To Taliban On Afghan Deportations, Says EU
Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, has defended the controversial plan to invite Taliban representatives to Brussels. He said the EU has no choice but to talk to the Taliban if it wants to return rejected Afghan asylum seekers to Afghanistan.
France
On 23 May, 2026, families of victims of ISIS attacks and U.S. military personnel killed or wounded in the fight against the terrorist group demanded access to nearly $778 million paid by French cement giant Lafarge under its 2022 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Just three days earlier, on May 20, legal experts at Global Rights Compliance argued that the Lafarge case could become a defining precedent for multinational corporations operating in conflict zones, warning that companies may increasingly face criminal liability for maintaining business relationships with armed groups during wartime. Human rights organizations have also continued to raise concerns about two unresolved aspects of the scandal: the lack of compensation for former Syrian employees who allegedly faced kidnappings, shelling, and other dangers while working at Lafarge's Syrian plant, and an ongoing French investigation into whether the company's dealings with ISIS could amount to complicity in crimes against humanity.
United Kingdom
WIRED: A White Supremacist Youth Group Helped Orchestrate the Belfast Riots
After Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson stoked anger over a horrific knife attack in Belfast, a youth group linked to a global neo-Nazi movement quietly orchestrated anti-immigrant riots.
JTA: UK Jewish leaders demand answers after Muslim police group paper calls Zionism a form of hatred
British Jewish groups say they are alarmed about revelations that a fraternal society for Muslim police officers published a policy paper that described Zionism as a form of anti-Muslim hatred and called the Israeli army a “Zionist terrorist group.”
BBC: Counter-terrorism police leading school stabbing inquiry
Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation into a stabbing at a Manchester school in which two pupils and a teacher were injured. The attack took place on Tuesday at the Co-op Academy on Plant Hill Road in the Blackley area.
The Telegraph: Girl, 14, charged over triple stabbing at Manchester school
A 14-year-old girl has been charged with three counts of attempted murder in connection with a triple stabbing at a Manchester school. A boy and a girl, both 14, and a 27-year-old man were injured in Tuesday’s attack at the Co-op Academy on Plant Hill Road in the Blackley area of the city.
BBC: Manchester IRA bomb investigation 'no longer active'
The criminal investigation into the IRA's bombing of Manchester in 1996 is "no longer active" after detectives exhausted all lines of inquiry. Counter Terrorism Policing North West said the inquiry would remain closed "pending any further evidence or information coming to light about new or existing suspects".
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Herat Taliban Governor Labels Detained Women ‘Psychologically Ill’
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban governor of Herat, said compliance with the group’s dress code had been steadily declining in the province. He described the women detained in Herat as suffering from “psychological and religious problems” and said authorities had been instructed to remove them from public areas.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Deploy Heavily Armed Forces Ahead Of Planned Protests In Herat
Local sources told Afghanistan International early on Friday that Taliban forces have been deployed across Herat with heavy weapons since Thursday night. Images obtained by Afghanistan International show Taliban military vehicles equipped with heavy weaponry positioned throughout the city.
Amu TV: EU envoy calls Taliban’s Herat crackdown ‘extremely serious’
The EU’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Gilles Bertrand, has condemned the Taliban’s response to recent protests in Herat, describing the arrests of women and the subsequent crackdown on demonstrators as “extremely serious.” In an exclusive interview with Amu TV, Bertrand said Afghan women should not be subjected to violence and repression in addition to the sweeping restrictions already imposed on them by Taliban.
Amu TV: Residents say Herat remains under tight Taliban security ahead of planned protest
Residents of Herat say tensions remain high across the city, particularly in predominantly Hazara neighborhoods, as some residents discuss holding another protest on Friday afternoon following a Taliban crackdown on demonstrations over the detention of women accused of violating their dress code. Several residents told Amu TV on Friday that Taliban patrols and vehicle convoys have increased in recent days, with security forces maintaining a visible presence in various parts of the city.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
The Telegraph: Gazan exiles stoke ‘revolution’ against Hamas
Gazans are preparing for public protests against Hamas in what is being touted as a grassroots “revolution” against the terror group. The movement, which appears to have been started by Gazans in exile, is calling for surviving residents in the enclave to gather en masse.
Hamas participated in disarmament talks in Cairo this week, and while some progress was made, officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that mediators of the tenuous Gaza ceasefire do not think a breakthrough is likely before Israeli elections in the fall.
Arab Weekly: Hamas disarmament remains sticking point in Cairo talks on Gaza
Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, held week-long talks with Hamas and other Palestinian factions on implementing the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which would involve Hamas disarming and Israel withdrawing its forces. In a Thursday statement, senior Hamas official Hussam Badran said the talks had achieved “real progress” and called on mediators to compel Israel to stop truce violations. Badran didn’t elaborate on the nature of the progress.
Hassan Yousef, a co-founder of Hamas in the West Bank whose son Mosab became famous for working as an Israeli informant, was on Thursday released from Israeli custody without charge after two and a half years of administrative detention, Palestinian media reported.
Saeed Hamous has been on edge since Saturday. That day, he said, Israeli settlers who rampaged through his town, Huwara in the West Bank, stole dozens of sheep from him. Hamous had bought the sheep and began raising them as his main source of income after no longer being allowed to work in Israel, which dramatically reduced the number of Palestinian workers allowed into the country from the West Bank in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
The IDF killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad platoon commanders and a Hamas deputy company commander in precision strikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the military announced on Friday. The two commanders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization were identified as Qasslam Hassan Saleh and Sami Jamil Abu Dalal, while the Hamas commander was identified as Ubay Mamoun Saleh Farwana.
Iraq
Rudaw: Iraq kills ISIS leader in Diyala on Speicher anniversary
Iraq carried out two airstrikes on Thursday targeting an Islamic State (ISIS) leader in the Iraqi eastern province of Diyala, leaving two dead as the country commemorates the victims of the Speicher massacre. Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) said that following months of field monitoring and intelligence tracking by the Military Intelligence Directorate, “the heroic Air Falcons carried out two successful airstrikes using F-16 aircraft.”
Israel
The Israel Defense Forces is poised to launch an offensive against Hezbollah in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, one of the terror group’s strongholds, an IDF official said Thursday.
Lebanon
Reuters: Hezbollah confident any US-Iran deal will include Lebanon, politician says
Hezbollah is confident that Iran will insist on Lebanon being included in a deal with the United States, a leading Hezbollah politician said on Friday, as hopes grew for an agreement between Tehran and Washington. Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, entered the regional conflict in support of Tehran on March 2, opening fire at Israel and prompting an Israeli offensive that has killed thousands of people in Lebanon.
Iran International: Iran's Quds Force chief says Hezbollah will remain on Lebanon front line
Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said Hezbollah would remain at the forefront of defending Lebanon and confronting Israel.
Naharnet: Lebanon included in Trump's deal with Iran, report says
The U.S. has confirmed that Lebanon is included in a deal with Iran, announced late Thursday by President Donald Trump, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported Friday. According to the daily, the U.S. informed Iran that Lebanon is included in the deal. It also reported that Trump has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three times regarding Lebanon, emphasizing that ending the war requires more than a simple ceasefire—it must include a total halt to military actions, an end to demolitions, a prisoner release, and a scheduled, rapid Israeli withdrawal.
Naharnet: Report: Aoun asks Hezbollah for written ceasefire proposal
President Joseph Aoun, through private channels, has asked Hezbollah, for the first time, to submit a written proposal for its vision for ending the war with Israel, a political source close to the Shiite Duo said.
Naharnet: Salam slams Iran 'unprecedented' grip on Hezbollah after Nasrallah killing
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam sharply criticized Tehran's intentions toward Lebanon, stating that its insistence on including the country in any ceasefire deal was calculated to signal to the world that ultimate decision-making power over Lebanon rests exclusively in Iranian hands.
Naharnet: Fadlallah says state negotiations with Israel futile without Hezbollah consent
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Friday that the Lebanese government is negotiating terms it cannot actually enforce, emphasizing that no agreement can be implemented on the ground without the approval of the resistance. Hezbollah and Amal reject the state's frameworks, which, according to Fadlallah, grant excessive concessions to Israel without offering any realistic or genuine solutions to Lebanon.
Syria
Naharnet: Al-Sharaa denies possibility of Syrian military intervention in Lebanon
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Friday asserted that U.S. claims and recent reports about a possible Syrian military intervention in Lebanon are mere rumors. Syria's objective is to end the war in Lebanon, not to escalate it or become embroiled in it, Sharaa said.
Yemen
Yemen Online: Reports Allege Yemen’s Islah Party Supplied Arms to Al-Qaeda in Shabwa
Local Yemeni reports and security sources have accused the Islah Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen, of supplying weapons and ammunition to Al-Qaeda elements in Shabwa province through local smuggling networks.
Yemen Online: UN Report: 73 Staff Still Arbitrarily Detained by Houthis in Yemen
The United Nations said Wednesday that 73 of its staff remain arbitrarily detained by Houthi militias in Yemen, two years after a wave of arrests that targeted dozens of UN employees, aid workers, and civil society activists. The organization renewed its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.
Kenya
Kenyan security forces thwarted a nighttime attack by suspected Al-Shabaab militants targeting a military base in Mandera County near the Somalia border, officials said on Thursday.
Mali
Reuters: Mali's al Qaeda branch offers €2 million bounty for president's capture
Mali's local al Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has offered millions of euros for information on the whereabouts of the president and top military officials, describing the government as an illegitimateentity.
Nigeria
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has claimed sweeping victories against insurgent forces, asserting that government troops have killed more than 13,000 "terrorists" over the past year. The pronouncement reflects an aggressive effort by the administration to project security stability, even as Africa's most populous nation continues to battle overlapping crises of violence, economic fragility, and mounting regional migration pressures.
Eastleigh Voice: Over 200 ISIS-linked fighters killed in joint US–Nigeria operations
At least 200 fighters aligned to the Islamic State (ISIS) group were killed in coordinated military operations carried out in northeastern Nigeria, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has reported.
Somalia
A Somali World Cup referee who was barred from entering the United States due to an alleged "association with suspected members of terror organizations" has been appointed to officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup.
Philippines
Manilla Standard: PNP, US FBI rescue 21 minors from ‘nihilist violent extremism’
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has intensified its collaboration with international law enforcement agencies to combat cross-border extremist networks targeting vulnerable Filipino youth. This following the rescue of 21 Filipino minors from nihilist violent extremism (NVE) through a joint effort led by the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Philippine law enforcement agencies, including the PNP.
Australia
Daily Telegraph: Man accused of targeting Royal Commission into Antisemitism witness
Prohibited weapons, instructions on making explosives and right-wing literature have been seized from a northern NSW home after a man allegedly sent threatening messages to a Royal Commission into Antisemitism witness. Woodburn man Gavin George Begbie, 59, was refused bail in online bail court on Thursday.
The Albanese government has withheld as many as 150 secret documents related to the return of ISIS brides, despite the Prime Minister’s claim that nobody in his government was in contact with the women prior to their return to Australia. The Home Affairs Department rejected a SkyNews.com.au freedom of information request into details of correspondence with anyone representing the brides.
Technology
Times of Israel: AI models are absorbing antisemitism from humans, study says
Artificial intelligence models have absorbed historical antisemitic tropes from the human texts the models are trained on, according to a recent psychology study. The authors, from Israeli universities, said the analysis showed how “an ancient prejudice persists in modern technological systems through complex patterns of trait association and cultural coding.”
Stay up to date on our latest news.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.