Eye on Extremism: March 23, 2026
Top Stories
Iran Wire: IRGC Warns US as Missile Strikes Hit Israel Again
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country’s elite military force that operates separately from the regular army, has launched a fresh wave of missile attacks toward Israel. Israeli authorities said their air defense systems, including Iron Dome and Arrow, are currently intercepting the incoming strikes. Earlier on Sunday evening, another round of Iranian attacks had already taken place, with reports suggesting that cluster munitions struck Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial and technological hub.
Iran International: Suspected Iran-linked group claims north London Jewish ambulance arson
An Iran-aligned militant network has claimed responsibility for the arson attack on Jewish ambulances in north London early Monday, a monitoring organisation said, linking the incident to a string of similar fires across Europe. The SITE Intelligence monitoring service said a group calling itself the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand had carried out the attack near a synagogue in Golders Green, adding it had also been behind fires in Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands.
CEP Mentions
India West: ISIS Calls For Attacks On Hindus In India And South Asia, Says Report
Extremist networks linked to ISIS have called for attacks against Hindus in India and across South and Southeast Asia, even as they praised recent violence in the United States and expanded online recruitment, according to a new report by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), nonprofit and non-partisan international policy organization
Deutschlandfunk: Shiites in Germany: Religious mourning for Khamenei – despite his crimes?
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed on Islamist extremism in Germany and the death of Khamenei.
DW News: Iran war: Tehran fails in missile strike on the US-UK base at Diego Garcia
With Diego Garcia lying nearly twice as far as Iran's assumed maximum missile range, DW spoke with experts Farzan Sabet and [CEP Senior Director] Hans‑Jakob Schindler to assess the real capabilities of Iran's missile program — and to examine how seriously governments and the public should take Tehran's warning that Israelis and Americans are now "unsafe worldwide."
NTV: Iran's threat “is a sign of a certain helplessness”
[CEP Senior Director] Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler views Tehran’s threat as a kind of act of desperation, but he also stresses that this warning must be taken seriously. While it may not be “our war,” he says, it is “our problem.”
NTV: “As long as the regime exists, the problem is merely postponed”
Security and terrorism expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler warns of the consequences of a war with Iran: While the regime may be militarily weakened, it remains dangerous. Should it survive, oppression and nuclear armament would simply start all over again.
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed, with quotes at 1:55 and 2:41.
RTL: Nachtjournal Sendung vom 21.03.2026
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler discusses the situation in Iran.
In an interview, [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler discusses Europe’s role in the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility of deploying ground troops. He says that the abstract threat to Germany has increased.
T-Online: Last resort: shotgun
Internal coordination is thus a weak point in Germany’s defense. Often, problems arise as early as the exchange of information between two police agencies. Terrorism expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler emphasizes in an interview with t-online: “There hasn’t been a truly major threat for over 30 years. As a result, responsibilities have become increasingly fragmented.” It must be clear who is responsible for what.
WELT: “Manoeuvred into a dead end” – What’s behind Trump’s sudden offer to negotiate
“Tehran was aware that it could not prevail against the U.S. and Israel in a conventional conflict,” says Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) to WELT. “That is why Iran is waging an asymmetric war, employing a mosaic defense strategy that is decentralized across Iran’s 31 provinces.”
ARD: punktEU: Ten years after the terrorist attacks in Brussels: How safe is Europe?
On March 22, 2016, 32 people were killed in attacks in Brussels. From Nice to Berlin to Paris: Terrorism has struck many cities across Europe. How is the EU combating this threat and its consequences? With Kathrin Schmid and Andreas Meyer-Feist. Guest: Alexander Ritzmann, terrorism researcher [CEP Senior Advisor]. Interview on the security situation in the EU and the updated EU Counter Terrorism strategy.
dokdoc.eu: Security between the State and Liberty
CEP Senior Research Analyst Sofia Koller writes: "Neither France nor Germany remains spared from the threat of Islamist terrorism: In France, the threat level remains high. In February 2026 alone, two 16-year-old boys were charged with planning a terrorist attack, and a released extremist offender attacked a gendarme with a knife at the Place de l’Étoile in Paris. Germany, too, remains “unabatedly in the crosshairs of ISIS,” as the knife attack in Solingen in August 2024 demonstrated. In the fight against Islamist extremism and terrorism, however, rapid and effective responses to such security risks are in a constant tension with the rule of law and long-term violence prevention. Germany and France—close friends, neighbors, drivers of European integration, and competitors—weigh these factors differently on this issue. Therefore, it is worth briefly comparing the three most important differences in counterterrorism."
Analysis
ASIS: When Researching Extremism, Women Face Outsized Risks
To tackle terrorist and extremist movements, you have to understand them. Well-executed research can curb the spread of extremism in all its forms, countering its corrosive effects on democracy and on public safety. Insights can be gleaned from interviewing and observing groups directly or from analyzing online activity using open-source methods.
United States
Several US government agencies have posted white supremacy-coded images and language on their social media pages, amid a hiring spree for immigration agents. Examples include posts with quotes from white supremacy books, Nazi party slogans, as well as several images that have been co-opted by the alt-right. Extremism experts say the inclusion of "flat-out white supremacist" material was unlikely to be accidental.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., issued an open letter calling upon Muslim leadership in the U.S. to condemn a spate of recent attacks in the country, arguing that their silence "legitimizes the concerns of millions of Americans" about Islam. He specifically indicated that the message was directed toward "Mosques, Imams, and Muslim Religious Leaders Across the United States."
New York Post: Postal worker busted after violently shoving 4-year-old Jewish boy in NYC suburb
A Rockland County postal worker was arrested for allegedly violently shoving a 4-year-old Jewish boy to the ground in a shocking caught-on-camera attack. Horrifying security footage obtained by The Monsey Scoop captured the young boy approaching a parked mail truck when the ruthless 39-year-old USPS carrier suddenly turned and aggressively pushed him onto the sidewalk of a Ramapo neighborhood Thursday night.
Christina Valera Devitt, 38, of Renton, Wash., was arrested on an outstanding warrant stemming from the alleged assault of a Jewish man during a 2025 confrontation over an Israeli flag at the University of Washington. Devitt was taken into custody on Feb. 24 following a traffic stop in Federal Way, Wash., according to police records. The Federal Way Police Department officer who made the arrest wrote that he initiated the stop because he believed the driver had a “warrant out of University Place for an amount of bail of $2,500.”
Washington Examiner: James Talarico’s mentor preached about ‘true jihad’ at pro-Palestinian rally
A mentor of Democratic candidate James Talarico, the Texas seminarian running for Senate, previously preached about “true jihad” at a pro-Palestinian rally, according to a Washington Examiner review of old protest footage. Talarico, a Presbyterian pastor-in-training campaigning to represent the predominantly Christian state of Texas, has faced recent criticism for past political remarks he imbued with biblical references that traditional Christians see as skewed interpretations of the gospel.
NBC 6 South Florida: Secretary of Miami-Dade GOP Abel Carvajal resigns over racist group chat
Abel Carvajal, the secretary of the Miami-Dade County Republican Party, resigned Monday after the discovery of a racist group chat allegedly involving young Republicans sparked an investigation, according to the county's GOP chairman. Carvajal is accused of starting the group chat on WhatsApp that would come to include dozens of racist, antisemitic and violent comments.
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are on high alert over an elevated terror threat, prompting Jewish communities in particular to ramp up security after a series of recent attacks, including an incident at Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan.
France
Reuters: French far right fails to win in major cities in boost to mainstream rivals
France's far-right National Rally (RN) failed to win control of any major city in Sunday's nationwide municipal election, a setback that gave hope to embattled mainstream parties ahead of next year's presidential election. Marine Le Pen's nationalist eurosceptic party lost out in big target cities including Marseille and Toulon, although an ally, Eric Ciotti, who heads his own staunchly conservative UDR party, won in Nice, France's fifth-largest city.
French MEP Rima Hassan said in an interview on Thursday that Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir, then 9 months old, and Ariel, 4 years old, whom Gazan terrorists kidnapped from their home at Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, and subsequently murdered in the Strip, were not murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
Germany
Iran International: Germany says Iran-linked threat level ‘very high’
Germany’s Interior Ministry assessed the threat posed by the Islamic Republic and its operatives as “very high” and said security agencies are on full alert. “The threat level from the Iranian government and its actors is assessed as very high, and we are on full alert,” a spokesperson for Germany’s Interior Ministry said in response to Iran International on Saturday.
The Times: German children chant ‘Nazi slogan’ at teen disco
Children and teenagers chanted the far-right slogan “foreigners out, Germany for the Germans” at a “teen disco” with participants as young as 11, underlining the extent to which political extremism has become normalised. The meme of bellowing the words to the tune of Gigi D’Agostino’s 1999 Eurodance song L’Amour Toujours originated on radical right-wing social media channels.
United Kingdom
Independent: British Jews ‘frightened and isolated’ after London ambulance arson
British Jews are grappling with heightened feelings of vulnerability, fear, and a "deepening sense of isolation" in the wake of an overnight arson attack targeting ambulances. Many have already adopted public safety precautions in recent years, according to a leading figure in Jewish security.
Counter-terrorism officers are leading an investigation into an arson attack on four ambulances in north London belonging to a Jewish community service, police have said. Officers were called to Highfield Road in Golders Green at about 1.45am on Monday after receiving reports of ambulances on fire near the Machzike Hadath synagogue and were looking for three suspects, the Metropolitan police said.
Reuters: London Jewish community ambulances set ablaze in antisemitic attack, PM says
Four Jewish community ambulances were set ablaze in north London on Monday in what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called "a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack". The London Fire Brigade, which sent six fire engines and 40 firefighters to the scene, said multiple cylinders on the vehicles exploded, shattering nearby windows. No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made.
BBC: City Hall earmarks £875,000 to tackle hate crimes
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has ringfenced £875,000 for more than 20 grassroots projects to fight hate crime, intolerance and extremism in London. City Hall says the funding has been earmarked to tackle far-right and Islamic extremism while teaching young people how to safely intervene in hate crime and recognise harmful misinformation online.
The Standard: Iran war stoking hatred on streets of London, Sadiq Khan warns
The US-Israeli war on Iran is stoking hatred on the streets of London, mayor Sir Sadiq Khan warns. Sir Sadiq added fear and division is also being sown online as the conflict spreads across the Middle East.
British cabinet minister Steve Reed said on Sunday that there was no assessment that backed claims Iran is planning to strike Europe with ballistic missiles, or that it even has the capacity to do so, and rejected claims in UK media that Britain has no defenses against Iranian missiles. On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces chief Eyal Zamir warned, and the IDF posted on social media, that Iran has missiles “that can reach London, Paris or Berlin” after Tehran unsuccessfully tried to hit the Diego Garcia US-UK military base, 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from Iranian territory.
Jewish News Syndicate: GoFundMe blocks BDS group from withdrawing funds on its platform
GoFundMe has stopped Palestine Action, a pro-BDS group, from withdrawing further funds via its fundraising platform. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a legal watchdog group, said it contacted GoFundMe and notified the platform that it could be held liable as accessories to criminal activity if it permits Palestine Action to raise money via its site.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
As Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) publicly claim their dead, new research shows that many previously counted as civilians were in fact members of the terrorist organizations, undermining accusations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza. Researchers monitoring the Hamas-run health ministry’s death reports told Fox News Digital that a growing number of "martyrs" were exposed as terrorists by their own groups such as Hamas, despite maintaining public identities as healthcare or media workers.
Times of Israel: 10 reported injured as settlers torch cars, property in West Bank Palestinian town
At least 10 Palestinians were reportedly injured Sunday evening as settler extremists torched cars and property in a northern West Bank Palestinian village, the latest in a wave of such attacks. Israeli security forces responded to the violence, seizing weapons and arresting five Israelis. At a separate location, settlers reportedly attacked a police officer, injuring him. Several Palestinians were also said to be injured amid the security forces’ operations.
Yehuda Sherman, an 18-year-old settler activist who was killed on Saturday in circumstances still being investigated by security services, was laid to rest in the settlement of Elon Moreh on Sunday, in a funeral attended by many hundreds of mourners as well as several senior politicians.
Times of Israel: Dozens of extremist settlers beat Palestinians; burn homes, cars in revenge attacks
Extremist settlers attacked Palestinians in some 20 locations across the West Bank on Saturday night, a security source told The Times of Israel, with assailants torching homes, vehicles and other property. Footage from the villages of Jalud, Fandaqumiya, Silat ad-Dhahr and Qaryut showed buildings on fire, and residents could be heard rushing to try to evacuate those inside.
AFP: European countries decry surge in ‘settler terror’ against Palestinians
Diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada on Saturday slammed growing “terror” by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, after a surge in deadly attacks. Since the start of March, six Palestinians have been shot dead in settler attacks in the West Bank, according to a tally of data from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority health ministry.
Times of Israel: Hamas given proposal for gradual weapon handover in months-long process — officials
The disarmament proposal presented to Hamas by Gaza ceasefire mediators this month in Cairo envisions all armed groups in the Strip gradually handing over their weapons over the coming months, two Arab diplomats familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday. The proposal requires Hamas to — within 90 days — hand over its heavy weaponry, such as missiles and rocket launchers, in addition to maps of its tunnel network.
Iran
Two weeks after Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed his father as Iran’s supreme leader, US and Israeli intelligence agencies are reportedly still trying to detect signs of him. Khamenei’s father, Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The younger Khamenei is believed to have been injured in that strike, but the extent of his injuries is unclear.
Small units within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Basij militia have reportedly begun refusing to report for duty, signaling emerging cracks within the regime, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter told Bloomberg on Sunday.
Iran International: IRGC aerospace chief faces internal criticism over battlefield absence
Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi has come under criticism from senior IRGC officials for being absent during ongoing clashes and leaving his forces without leadership, sources with knowledge of the matter told Iran International.
Iraq
Arab News: Iraqi PM says accelerating withdrawal of anti-jihadist coalition forces
Iraqi leader Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said he would accelerate the dismantling of a US-led international anti-jihadist coalition, in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Monday.
Israel
Two people are injured in the Hezbollah rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona, including one in serious condition, medics say. Magen David Adom says a man in his 50s was hit in the face by shrapnel and is listed in serious condition. Initially, MDA listed him in moderate-to-serious condition. He is being taken to Rambam hospital in Haifa by helicopter.
Times of Israel: Fresh sirens in Kiryat Shmona as Hezbollah pummels northern border town
Amid a fresh Hezbollah attack, sirens sound in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona and nearby towns, as medics work to evacuate a man wounded in a previous attack to a hospital.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Salam says Iran Guards commanding Hezbollah operations in Lebanon
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards are commanding Hezbollah's operations in the group's ongoing war against Israel. In an interview Sunday with the Al Hadath network, Salam once again lashed out at Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets on Israel.
The Israeli Air Force blew up a bridge over Lebanon’s Litani River on Sunday, accusing Hezbollah of using it to move operatives and weapons into the country’s south, as Israel warned that its fight against the Iran-backed terror group had “only just begun.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed support for his government's decision to disarm Hezbollah and blamed the terror group for dragging Lebanon into a wider regional war in a Sunday interview with Saudi newspaper Al-Hadath.
Naharnet: Israel strikes Iran-Hezbollah operative in Hazmieh apartment
An Israeli strike on Monday targeted an apartment in the Hazmieh suburb near Beirut, outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds in the country. The Israeli army confirmed targeting a member of Iran's Quds Force near Beirut.
Naharnet: Hezbollah targets Israeli troops and bases in north Israel and south Lebanon
Hezbollah targeted Monday Israeli troops and bases in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon with attack drones, rockets and advanced missiles. The group said in separate statements that it targeted troops near Alma al Shaab, al-Taybeh, Markaba, Dhayra, and Maroun al-Ras with attack drones, rockets and advanced missiles. It also targeted several times al-Manara, Metula and the Zari'it barracks in north Israel, and troops inside Lebanon near al-Naqoura's municipality.
United Arab Emirates
Naharnet: Hezbollah denies UAE accusations of having network in country
Hezbollah denied that it has a presence inside the United Arab Emirates, after Emirati authorities announced they had arrested at least five members of a "terrorist network" linked to Hezbollah and its backer, Iran. Earlier this week Hezbollah issued similar denials that it maintained a presence in Kuwait, after Kuwaiti authorities announced the discovery of two alleged cells linked to the group, arresting a combined 26 people.
Naharnet: UAE says arrested 'financial' operatives linked to Iran, Hezbollah
UAE authorities have arrested at least five members of a "terrorist network" linked to Iran and Lebanese group Hezbollah, state media said Friday.
Pakistan
Afghanistan International: Operations In Afghanistan Part Of Anti-Terror Policy, Says Pakistan
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, says Islamabad is taking a firm approach to combating what it calls terrorism, including operations linked to Afghanistan. Speaking on Monday, 23 March, Pakistan’s national day, Dar described Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army as “Fitna al-Hindustan” and “Fitna al-Khawarij”.
Afghanistan International: Fight Against Taliban Not Over Despite Eid Pause, Says Pakistan
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” has been temporarily suspended for Eid al-Fitr but will resume. Speaking to Geo News on Saturday, Asif said Pakistan has made steady progress in its fight against terrorism and will continue the campaign until it is completely eradicated.
Afghanistan International: Pak Warns Of Terror Threat From Afghanistan To Russia, Central Asia
Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia warned that militant groups operating from Afghanistan pose a growing threat not only to the region but also to Russia. Faisal Niaz Tirmizi said groups such as the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan have found safe haven in the country and their activities threaten not only Afghanistan and Pakistan but also Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.
Benin
Reuters: Benin presidential candidate vows new police forces to fight jihadists
The ruling party candidate in Benin's upcoming presidential election has vowed to create municipal police forces in northern border towns to defend against persistent attacks from jihadist groups. Romuald Wadagni, who has been finance minister under President Patrice Talon since 2016, also said Benin had "no choice" but to work with neighbouring countries to address security challenges, as insurgents active in the Sahel rapidly increase their attacks on the borderlands between Niger, Benin and Nigeria.
Somalia
Long War Journal: Shabaab celebrates October attack on Mogadishu prison in new video
In a new video posted online as a so-called Eid celebration, Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, highlighted and celebrated last year’s assault on the Godka Jilacow prison in Mogadishu, which is operated by Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). Unusually, the group also made a point to showcase that one of the suicide commandos involved in the operation was the son of Ali Mohamad Rage, a top Shabaab official.
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