Eye on Extremism: June 27, 2025
Top Stories
CNN: Details emerge of secret diplomatic efforts to restart Iran talks
The Trump administration has discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian-energy-producing nuclear program, easing sanctions, and freeing up billions of dollars in restricted Iranian funds – all part of an intensifying attempt to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, four sources familiar with the matter said. Key players from the US and the Middle East have talked with the Iranians behind the scenes even amid the flurry of military strikes in Iran and Israel over the past two weeks, the sources said. Those discussions have continued this week after a ceasefire deal was struck, the sources said.
Times of Israel: Why Israel set out for a war against Iran, and what it achieved
Over the past decades, Israel has come up with numerous different plans to attack Iran’s nuclear program. None of them were activated, nor were they considered ready. Until this month. In the early hours of June 13, the Israel Defense Forces launched what it dubbed a “preemptive” operation against not just the Iranian nuclear program, but the wider threat of Iran’s ballistic missiles and its overarching plans to destroy Israel. The war began with surprise strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force in Tehran and other areas of Iran, some 1,500 kilometers from Israel. The sudden assault was multifaceted.
CEP Mentions
France 24: Did Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile survive the US-Israeli strikes?
Iran’s supplies of enriched uranium could be converted into enough weapons-grade uranium to make about nine nuclear bombs at a site like Fordow, Castelli says. However, the uranium “is not going to enrich itself, and Natanz and Fordow are really badly damaged,” cautions Hans-Jakob Schindler, a former German diplomat in Tehran who today directs the Counter Extremism Project NGO.
Phoenix: Israel, Gaza, Iran – What will become of the Middle East?
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler joins a panel to discuss the Iran war.
Analysis
New York Times: What We Know About the Fate of Iran’s Nuclear Program After Israeli and U.S. Strikes
This weekend, President Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and totally obliterated” by U.S. airstrikes. The full extent of the damage, which is being assessed by U.S. spy agencies, is still unclear. Several disclosures and claims by U.S. and United Nations officials, along with satellite images taken after the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, have shed some light on the situation in Iran.
CTC Sentinel: Regional Terrorism Trends Before and After October 7
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel triggered a rapid escalation in regional conflict and reshaped the operational landscape of Iran-backed violent non-state actors. Using data from the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center’s GRID database, this article compares patterns of terrorist violence in the Middle East one year before and after the attack. The analyses reveal a dramatic rise in drone, rocket, and missile attacks—particularly by Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq—against U.S., Israeli, and maritime targets.
Europe has largely avoided major jihadi attacks in recent years, though experts and officials from the United Nations as well as the Five Eyes intelligence alliance have repeatedly warned of the heightened terror threat increasingly linked to a new generation of teenagers, who radicalize primarily online. Yet, little is known about the specific profiles and modi operandi of these underage suspects. As this trend shows no signs of waning, a clearer understanding of these minors’ specific characteristics is vital in order to adapt counterterrorism responses and sustain the current high rate of foiled plots.
United States
New York Times: As Mamdani Rises, Anti-Muslim Attacks Roll In From the Right
Even before Zohran Mamdani claimed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, he had become a target of racist attacks from the far right. Those attacks have only intensified in the wake of his commanding performance on Tuesday, with Republican elected officials and right-wing media figures accusing him of promoting Islamic law, supporting terrorism and posing a threat to the safety of New Yorkers, especially Jews.
Reuters: No known intelligence that Iran moved uranium, US defense chief says
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from U.S. strikes, amid continuing questions about the state of Iran's nuclear program. U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday local time using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. The results of the strikes are being closely watched to see how far they may have set back Iran's nuclear program, after President Donald Trump said it had been obliterated.
Associated Press: Trump lashes out at media over intel assessment of strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites
U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing to lash out at U.S. media organizations for their reporting of intelligence assessments over the effectiveness of airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
With matters in Iran settling into a fragile holding pattern, a new poll offers fresh insight into how the American people are processing President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis—and what it reveals about the public mood here at home. American Pulse Research and Polling conducted the national survey over three nights, June 23–25, immediately following the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and the surprise ceasefire that followed. The poll carries a margin of error of ±3.9 percent.
Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded a staggering $94.4 million in federal grants through the National Security Supplemental (NSGP-NSS) to 512 Jewish faith-based organizations on Friday. The grants, which are allocated through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, are part of a pre-designated fund to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under DHS with the purpose of providing "support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements."
Fox News: Pastor's crucifixion murder suspect says on video he planned to kill 14 more
The man accused of brutally crucifying a rural Arizona pastor has not only admitted to the alleged crime, but said that he planned to kill more than a dozen other Christian leaders. Adam Sheafe, 51, told FOX 10 in an interview that he murdered Pastor Bill Schonemann, 76, head of the New River Bible Chapel in New River, Arizona.
Fox News: Church attacks can be stopped with three-step training strategy, security expert says
In the wake of the attempted mass shooting at the CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne, Michigan on Sunday, one security expert offered a unique tip that could stop churches from becoming targets. Ken Alexandrow spent 26 years as a police officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department, many of them as a training officer in confrontation management. He was also a member of the FBI joint terrorism task force for several years.
As the threat of Iranian retaliation looms, the potential for terror proxies to leverage new-age methods remains front of mind for experts pointing to antisemitic campus protests and social media propaganda as possible methods of creating chaos within the United States. After strikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites by U.S. forces Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin warning of the heightened risk of domestic terrorism from Iranian-backed or domestic attackers.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent letters on Thursday to the three university presidents who testified before the committee in May to follow up on their progress addressing antisemitism on their college campuses.
Ithaca Journal: Antisemitism task force takes shape in Ithaca: Why group is sharing concerns
Concerned citizens and prominent figures in the Ithaca Area United Jewish Community have banded together in an attempt to find solutions to growing antisemitism concerns in the city and Tompkins County. The effort was formed following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the taking of 250 hostages.
Jewish Insider: Obama OMB director says Democratic Party is ‘becoming increasingly antisemitic’
Former Obama administration OMB Director Peter Orszag, the CEO of Lazard, sounded an alarm Thursday morning over the leftward direction of the Democratic Party, especially when it comes to its handling of antisemitism. He spoke out on CNBC after far-left state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor. “I’m saddened to say the Democratic Party is becoming increasingly antisemitic and anti-capitalism… Turning away from your principles and towards antisemitism never works,” Orszag said on CNBC’s “Money Movers” this afternoon.
Members of the US Congressional Jewish Caucus wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to highlight the “deeply troubling and offensive statements” of Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson. The Jerusalem Post has previously written about Wilson, who has a history of antisemitic statements, including the promotion of the antisemitic “Great Replacement” theory, praising far-right political movements using slogans tied to neo-Nazi groups, and repeating conspiracy theories frequented in neo-Nazi circles about Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was lynched by an antisemitic mob in Georgia in 1915.
Hundreds of Jewish leaders from across the US gathered in Washington, DC, on Wednesday with a clear and urgent message to lawmakers that Jewish communities in the United States are under threat and need stronger federal protection. Nearly 400 advocates representing more than 100 Jewish communities participated in the two-day United for Security Emergency Leadership Mission in the nation’s capital, holding more than 200 meetings with members of Congress and their staff. The mission, organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, comes amid a rise in domestic antisemitism and increased tensions between Israel and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program.
Known to one another mostly by their Signal group chat handles, the group of seven made their way up a muddy hill to a dusty, unlit cabin. Kievskaya set a lantern in the back of the room, while another was hung from a wooden beam. After some icebreaker questions, the first meeting of the Wisconsin John Brown Gun Club turned to the business at hand: identifying who specialized in what, symbols the group would sport in public, and, crucially, which firearms and caliber of ammunition to carry at political protests.
New York Times: As Mamdani Rises, Anti-Muslim Attacks Roll In From the Right
Even before Zohran Mamdani claimed victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, he had become a target of racist attacks from the far right. Those attacks have only intensified in the wake of his commanding performance on Tuesday, with Republican elected officials and right-wing media figures accusing him of promoting Islamic law, supporting terrorism and posing a threat to the safety of New Yorkers, especially Jews.
New York Times: Right-Wing Republicans in Congress Attack Mamdani With Islamophobic Comments
Representative Andy Ogles, a hard-right Tennessee Republican, on Thursday used Islamophobic language on social media to refer to Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, and said he should be deported. Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, implied that Mr. Mamdani was somehow tied to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which occurred when he was 9. That came after Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, reacted on Wednesday to Mr. Mamdani’s apparent victory with an edited image of the Statue of Liberty clothed in a burqa. The responses to Mr. Mamdani’s electoral triumph were the latest examples of how far-right Republicans in Congress have become overt in their use of bigoted language and ethnically offensive tropes, in both casual comments and official statements.
Ynet: 'Guns & Moses': Film about vengeful rabbi targeting neo-Nazis sparks debate in US
A new action thriller set to hit U.S. theaters next month is already generating buzz for its bold premise: a gun-toting rabbi out for revenge against a neo-Nazi gang. "Guns & Moses," directed by Salvador Litvak, is slated for release on July 18. Its trailer, released a week ago, suggests a film that taps directly into the current political and cultural climate in the U.S., where antisemitism from both the far right and far left has become a growing concern.
Argentina
AFP: Argentina to try 10 Iranians, Lebanese in absentia over 1994 bombing of Jewish center
Argentina will try in absentia 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, according to a Thursday ruling. In the ruling, seen by AFP, Judge Daniel Rafecas acknowledged the “exceptional” nature of the decision to send the case to court over three decades after the bombing and with the suspects all still at large. The attack, which injured more than 300 and caused devastation in Latin America’s biggest Jewish community, was the deadliest outside Israel since the Holocaust. It has never been claimed or solved, and no one has ever been arrested over it.
Canada
Jerusalem Post: Jewish teacher files human rights complaint over antisemitism at Canadian school
A Jewish former teacher at a private school in British Columbia has filed a human rights complaint alleging she was subjected to systemic antisemitic discrimination, retaliation, and eventual dismissal after speaking about her son's friend who was killed on October 7, The Lawfare Project announced in a press release on Thursday.
Czech Republic
Czech authorities have detained five teenagers for being radicalized online by the militant Islamic State group and charged two of them with terror-related crimes over an attempt to set fire to a synagogue, officials said Wednesday. Břetislav Brejcha, the director of the Czech counterterrorism, extremism and cybercrime department, said most of the suspects are under 18 years old. They were detained between February and June as a result of an international investigation that started last year.
France
Jewish News Syndicate: ‘I want to leave France,’ antisemitic abuse victim tells media
The media in France reported on two antisemitic incidents this week, one involving a Jewish woman who said she’s now decided to “leave France” and another befalling a non-Jewish teenager who was targeted for attending a Jewish school. A teenage girl lured the teenager to meet her for a date on June 18 in the Toulouse area in France’s southeast, Le Figaro reported on Tuesday. She arrived accompanied by a boy. Two other teenagers, aged 14 and 16, also arrived at the site.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Teen in Germany charged over Taylor Swift stadium plot
Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe on Friday said judges had indicted a teenager accused of having helped to plot a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year. The US pop star canceled three scheduled concerts in Vienna as part of her Eras tour in August 2024 after the arrest of two young men suspected of planning a terrorist attack.
B.Z.: Reproach to the police after the dissolution of a pro-Israel demonstration
The hate demonstration, which according to the police attracted significantly more participants than originally expected, had been registered under the title "United4Gaza". The demonstrators wanted to march from Platz der Republik to Potsdamer Platz. There was then an unplanned change. According to the police, the pro-Palestinian march was suddenly supposed to end at the Friedrichstraße/Unter den Linden intersection. "The police therefore no longer saw themselves in a position to guarantee our protection. I was asked to end my rally." It was with a heavy heart that the registrant complied.
A German court overturned a ban Tuesday on a far-right German magazine that frequently espouses antisemitic and anti-immigrant rhetoric. In Tuesday’s decision, the German Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that while the magazine, Compact, frequently presents unconstitutional viewpoints, it does “not yet” present a threat to Germany.
New York Times: She Ripped German Conservatives on Social Media. They Didn’t Forget.
Heidi Reichinnek built a loyal following with rapid-fire, acid-tongued takedowns of conservatives and Germany’s political establishment, a star status that helped bring her political party, the far-left Die Linke, back into Parliament earlier this year. Not everyone was a fan. In viral social media posts and widely viewed speeches in Parliament, Ms. Reichinnek, a leader of Die Linke, angered the conservative Christian Democrats of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. So much so that they led an effort this week to block her from taking a seat on a prestigious and sensitive committee in Parliament that oversees intelligence agencies.
Moldovia
Mirage News: Moldovan Police Boost Intelligence Skills with OSCE Training
Senior managers and crime analysts from the Moldovan General Police Inspectorate took part in OSCE training courses from 23 to 27 June in Chisinau to equip them with the tools to implement intelligence-led policing, a proactive and intelligence-driven approach to identifying, assessing, and addressing crime threats. The training course for crime analysts from 25 to 27 June featured sessions on the principles of the intelligence cycle, advanced analytical techniques, and good practices in intelligence reporting. A particular emphasis was placed on the importance of data protection, privacy, and human rights compliance, as well as the use of technology and innovation in support of analytical functions.
Romania
Romania Insider: Romanian far-right MEP submits no-confidence motion against European Commission
A motion of censure against the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen was submitted on Thursday, June 26, by far-right member of the European Parliament Gheorghe Piperea, part of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the party announced. Piperea, along with the other AUR deputies in the European Parliament, is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists, or ECR, group. Six Romanian MEPs are part of the group, although 3 have left AUR since they were elected.
Russia
Russian police investigators on Friday launched a terrorism probe after a Ukrainian drone strike wounded a Chinese journalist in the Kursk border region. Lu Yuguang, a 63-year-old reporter with the Chinese state-affiliated Phoenix TV, sustained head injuries Thursday afternoon while reporting near targeted facilities in the village of Korenevo, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border, Russian officials said.
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK police arrest four over pro-Palestinian protest at air base
British counter-terrorism police have arrested four people in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest last week in which military planes were sprayed with paint at an air base in England, authorities said on Friday. A woman, 29, and two men aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, while another woman, 41, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, the police statement said.
Metro: Kneecap star unfazed about US visa being revoked: ‘There’s people being starved’
Irish rap group Kneecap have opened up about the prospect of future shows in the US following calls to axe their Glastonbury set. Kneecap made pro-Palestine statements at Coachella in April this year, causing critics like Sharon Osbourne to slam their set for ‘promoting terrorist organisations or spreading hate’.
Goldsmiths, a college in the University of London, has apologized to its Jewish students and staff for allowing a “culture” of antisemitism to build up on its campus over recent years. Following an independent inquiry commissioned by the school’s governing council, it will now work to implement a two-year action plan to tackle the problem, the school says.
Afghanistan
Amu: US lawmaker says Afghanistan has again become ‘hotbed for terrorists’
Representative Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, warned Thursday that Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups, posing renewed threats to South and Central Asia and beyond, nearly four years after the U.S. military withdrawal. Speaking during a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing titled “Assessing the Terror Threat Landscape in South and Central Asia and Examining Opportunities for Cooperation,” Huizenga said that the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 had significantly altered the region’s security dynamics.
Amu: At London conference, advocates call for recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan
Human rights leaders and women’s rights advocates from around the world gathered in London on Wednesday to demand urgent international action against the Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan and to formally recognize it as gender apartheid under international law. Organized by DEFAW (Defenders for Equality for Afghan Women), the conference brought together more than 50 organizations and prominent voices, including Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and Afghan artist and activist Aryana Sayeed. The event served as a powerful call for global solidarity against what participants described as one of the gravest human rights crises of the 21st century.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Rejects US Lawmaker’s Claim Of Terrorist Presence In Afghanistan
The Taliban has rejected recent remarks by US Congressman Bill Huizenga, who said that Afghanistan has once again become a haven for terrorist groups under Taliban rule. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement on Friday, 27 June, asserting that the Taliban-led government maintains full control over the country and will not permit any group to use Afghan soil to threaten other nations.
Gaza Strip
Reuters: Battling to survive, Hamas faces defiant clans and doubts over Iran
Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network and unsure of support from its ally Iran, Hamas is battling to survive in Gaza in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure. Hamas fighters are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible but the Islamist group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said.
Reuters: Exclusive: US to give $30 million to Gaza aid operation despite violence concerns
The United States is giving $30 million to a controversial humanitarian group delivering aid in war-torn Gaza despite concern among some U.S. officials about the month-old operation and the killing of Palestinians near food distribution sites, according to four sources and a document seen by Reuters.
Iran
New York Times: Fate of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Is a Mystery
After days of debate over how severely U.S. strikes had damaged three nuclear facilities in Iran, the fate of the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium remains a bigger mystery. Over the years, as Iran built up its underground nuclear facilities and centrifuges, it amassed a large, 880-pound stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent, near bomb grade. While U.S. intelligence agencies had assessed that Iran had not decided whether to make a bomb, they noted that Iran was only a few steps away from being able to turn its uranium into a weapon given the size of that stockpile.
New York Times: Amid Attacks, Iran’s Exiled Opposition Remained Divided. Who Are They?
Overthrowing the government in Iran has been a goal of some in the Iranian diaspora too, ever since the 1979 revolution that deposed the shah and replaced the monarchy with a theocratic Islamic Republic. The war has amplified a range of voices in the opposition abroad, which has a history of infighting as well as organized online harassment of journalists, academics and others that has escalated at times into threats of physical violence.
Reuters: Vessels near Strait of Hormuz transmit unusual messages to prevent attacks
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz have been broadcasting unusual messages concerning nationality in a bid to avoid being attacked as doubts linger over the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, according to maritime risk analytics firm Windward and ship tracking data on Thursday. The signals have been used since conflict broke out between Israel and Iran early this month, which led the U.S. to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
Jerusalem Post: Mossad warns Iranian citizens to distance themselves from IRGC affiliates
The Mossad advised Iranian citizens to distance themselves from members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to keep themselves safe in a post on X/Twitter on Friday afternoon from its new account in Farsi. The post provided a list of guidelines, advising Iranians to avoid high-ranking IRGC officials, IRGC bases, especially if they hear a sound from the sky similar to a lawnmower, and vehicles belonging to the regime.
Jerusalem Post: Iran’s Jews pledge loyalty to regime as chief rabbi hails ‘our homeland’
Iran’s Jewish leadership publicly pledged full allegiance to the Islamic Republic on Thursday night, with Chief Rabbi Yehuda Gerami declaring that the country’s Jews “stand in a single front in defense of our homeland,” according to reports in the state-aligned news agencies ISNA and Tabnak.
Jerusalem Post: Iran arrests at least 700 Jews for alleged ties to Israel – report
Iran has arrested at least 700 people since Operation Rising Lion began due to alleged ties with Israel, the Iranian exiled women's organization Association Femme Azadi reported on Thursday night. "Reports confirm the arrest of rabbis and religious leaders in Tehran and Shiraz, accused, without evidence, of ties to Israel," the organization wrote on its social media.
Iranian authorities have stepped up pressure on Afghan migrants across the country, with reports of mass arrests, home and workplace raids, and the confiscation of mobile phones amid suspicions of links to Israel. Sources from multiple Iranian cities told Afghanistan International that uniformed and plainclothes police have intensified inspections of Afghan migrants, particularly following the recent 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. The heightened crackdown follows a nationwide security sweep in which 700 Iranian citizens were arrested on charges of espionage and collaboration with Israel.
Israel
Times of Israel: Netanyahu, Trump said working on plan to end Gaza war and expand Abraham Accords
US President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude the 20-month-old war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the success of the 12-day war against Iran, several Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday, amid calls in Israel for the same. The Kan public broadcaster reported that Trump’s demand to cancel Netanyahu’s criminal trial was also linked to this effort.
Times of Israel: Katz says Israel sought to kill Khamenei, but didn’t find an opportunity
Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a circuit of interviews aired Thursday evening that Israel sought to eliminate Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during its 12-day conflict with Iran, but the opportunity never presented itself. “If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Channel 13, adding that Israel “searched a lot” for Khamenei but that the operational opportunity did not arise.
Reuters: Israeli military orders war crime probe into Gaza shootings, paper says
Israel's Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.
As the death toll of Gazans around aid distribution sites continues to rise, some Israeli soldiers and officers told the newspaper Haaretz that they are ordered to indiscriminately shoot at people seeking aid as a method of dispersal. According to the report, the Israeli Military Advocate General instructed the IDF General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, which investigates potential misconduct, to investigate suspected war crimes at the aid distribution sites during a closed-door meeting.
Jerusalem Post: WATCH: IDF releases details of damage to Iran's nuclear, missile production sites
IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin spoke on Friday about the details behind the war with Iran, revealing the scale of damage to Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Defrin began by saying that Israel had tried to prevent the expansion and development of Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities "behind the scenes," but said they had been "left no choice" but to proceed with the strikes.
Lebanon
Reuters: Israeli strikes pummel south Lebanon hilltops
More than a dozen Israeli air strikes battered a row of hilltops in southern Lebanon on Friday, security sources said, with the Israeli military saying it had attacked a damaged military site that armed group Hezbollah was seeking to restore. The simultaneous strikes hit a mountainous strip near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, according to the Lebanese security sources, who said Hezbollah likely still had arms depots there. There was no immediate comment from the group.
Naharnet: Hezbollah missile or Israeli strike?
Israel said Friday it didn't bomb any residential building in Nabatieh after a woman was killed and 20 other people were wounded as Israel’s air force carried out intense airstrikes on mountains overlooking the city of Nabatieh. Shortly afterward, the apartment building was hit in the nearby city of Nabatieh, resulting in the death of a woman. Twenty other people were wounded. Israel denied the strike on the building. It said its fighter jets struck a site used by Hezbollah to manage its fire and defense array in the area and that the projectile that hit the building had flown from a nearby Hezbollah depot targeted by an Israeli strike.
Naharnet: Report: UNIFIL mandate may be renewed for one last time
The Foreign Ministry has sent to the U.N. Security Council a letter demanding the renewal of the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres receiving the letter that is based on the previous request without any adjustments, Al-Jadeed TV reported. Ministerial sources meanwhile told the TV network that “Lebanon has sensed from the U.S. administration that it is not interested in renewal for the UNIFIL forces, in light of the new U.S. vision for U.N. organizations … and the continued burden of financing them.”
Naharnet: Report: Hezbollah studying US paper, int'l community bets on Berri role
The ideas proposed by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack during his latest visit to Lebanon are now being discussed by President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam to reach “a unified approach that would be adopted by Cabinet,” a media report said. Aoun, Berri and Salam are awaiting “the response of Hezbollah’s leadership, after the ideas were sent to it for discussion and ahead of taking a final decision,” Lebanese sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Naharnet: Barrack talks Lebanon with Saudi official, seeks 'step-by-step' Lebanon-Israel solution
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has said that Hezbollah has vanished militarily and that Lebanon might join the Abraham peace accords, Al-Jadeed television reported. “The U.S. envoy met in Riyadh with Prince Yazid bin Farhan in a bilateral meeting that stretched until late hours of the night and the Lebanese file was on the table,” Al-Jadeed added. Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper meanwhile said that Barrack gave Lebanese officials a deadline that ends on July 10 to respond to the U.S. demands.
Syria
Reuters: 'She's not coming back': Alawite women snatched from streets of Syria
"Don't wait for her," the WhatsApp caller told the family of Abeer Suleiman on May 21, hours after she vanished from the streets of the Syrian town of Safita. "She's not coming back." Suleiman's kidnapper and another man who identified himself as an intermediary said in subsequent calls and messages that the 29-year-old woman would be killed or trafficked into slavery unless her relatives paid them a ransom of $15,000.
India
Yes Punjab: NIA searches 18 locations in 3 states over grenade attack at ex-minister’s house
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations in three states – Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, in connection with grenade attack at former Punjab minister Manoranjan Kalia’s residence, last year. In the multi-state searches, the premier counter-terrorism agency seized various incriminating materials, including mobiles/digital devices and documents.
Mali
The Guardian: Who are JNIM, the jihadist ‘ghost enemy’ gaining momentum in the Sahel?
The series of bombings, hijackings, attacks on military bases and raids into major towns in Mali and Burkina Faso carried out by JNIM in recent weeks have gone largely unnoticed in a world preoccupied by conflicts elsewhere, but marks one of the most significant military efforts by any Islamic militant organisation anywhere in the world since the Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan in 2021. But the recent success of the JNIM may be less a result of its own strength than the weakness of its opponents. Ulf Laessing, who runs the Sahel programme of Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation from the Malian capital, Bamako, described the JNIM as a “ghost enemy” that appears out of nowhere in force.
Nigeria
Reuters: Gunmen kill 17 soldiers in northern Nigeria attacks
At least 17 soldiers were killed in northern Nigeria when gunmen stormed three army bases, security sources and a local official said on Wednesday, the latest assault in a region plagued by violence. Armed gangs operating in the northwest, known locally as bandits, typically engage in kidnapping for ransom and target security forces.
Sudan
Reuters: Over 40 people, including children, killed in Sudan hospital attack, says WHO chief
Over 40 people, including children and health care workers, were killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan at the weekend, the head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Saturday's attack on the Al Mujlad Hospital took place in West Kordofan, near the front line between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have been fighting each other since the conflict broke out in April 2023.
Togo
Reuters: Togo soldiers break up protests against longtime leader
Soldiers in Togo used tear gas and batons on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked main roads in the capital to call for the resignation of longtime leader Faure Gnassingbe, Reuters witnesses said. The gathering organised by bloggers and activists highlighted persisting political strife in Togo, where last month Gnassingbe was given the powerful new role of President of the Council of Ministers that has no fixed term limit. Protest organisers called for three days of gatherings, although participants on Thursday were quickly scattered by soldiers, Reuters witnesses said. Many shops remained closed as clashes continued into the afternoon, they said.
Technology
Reuters: Iran's hackers keep a low profile after Israeli and US strikes
After Israeli and American forces struck Iranian nuclear targets, officials in both countries sounded the alarm over potentially disruptive cyberattacks carried out by the Islamic Republic’s hackers. But as a fragile ceasefire holds, cyber defenders in the United States and Israel say they have so far seen little out of the ordinary – a potential sign that the threat from Iran’s cyber capabilities, like its battered military, has been overestimated.
Moonshot: Europol report focusing on IT and terrorism
IT as tool for terrorists is a focus in Europol’s report on terrorism and trends in the European Union. “The use of generative-AI to create and disseminate propaganda and hate speech has reached unprecedented levels, especially in the right-wing scene. Radical individuals are able to generate propaganda items at a fast pace, allowing them to evade content moderation.”
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