Eye on Extremism: May 29, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Iran, US reach deal to extend ceasefire, pending Trump's approval
The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Reuters, though U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to approve it and Iranian state media said it had not been finalized.
Jerusalem Post: Qatar invested over $65 million to manipulate US education, new report reveals
Qatar invested more than $65 million over the past 17 years in an effort to influence the education system in the US against Israel, according to a new report released on Wednesday by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, which is causing an uproar in Washington and prompting calls for a federal investigation.
CEP Mentions
ZDFheute: Expert: These are the sticking points in the Iran deal
Is an agreement on the horizon? Reports indicate that the US and Iran are close to extending the ceasefire. Security expert Hans-Jakob Schindler explains what's at stake.
RBB Radio 3 Schalom: Jewish Life Today
Interview with Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project on Iranian terror structures in Germany and Europe.
Analysis
Small Wars Journal: The Hidden Network That Fueled Terror in Northern Syria
For years, before the fall of the Assad regime and the emergence of Syria’s new government under Ahmed Al-Sharaa, trucks steadily rolled into northern Syria from Turkey into territory controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Sunni Islamist group, formed from the ex-al-Qaeda branch Al-Nusra Front, was widely designated as a terror organization at the time. These trucks carried the fuel that powered the wartime economy in Idlib and its surrounding northern region.
United States
A new White House strategy paper calls for stepping up efforts to counter terror groups’ propaganda – a role played by Voice of America until President Donald Trump kneecapped the government-run news broadcaster last year. The 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy released May 6 calls for “effective counter-propaganda means to identify and neutralize the media platforms of terror groups and identify and locate plotters before they can kill Americans.”
The Telegraph: Trump’s Truth Social forces new users to follow Tommy Robinson
Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, his closely watched forum for public communication, forces new users to follow the far-Right activist Tommy Robinson. Accounts that register to the US president’s social media app, which he launched in 2022 after being banned from Facebook and Twitter, are automatically made to follow a list of around 100 users.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies are increasingly warning about what they are describing as "anti-tech extremism," which stems from public anger over artificial intelligence, data centers, and fears of mass job displacement.
Fox News: FBI is relying on community and local leadership in combatting extremism, Kash Patel says
Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor catches up with FBI Director Kash Patel as he focuses the agency on combatting everything from internet radicalization to drone threats on ‘Special Report.’
NBC News: Indicted terrorist commander allegedly spoke of wanting to target Ivanka Trump
The commander of a terrorist organization is alleged to have discussed wanting to target Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump’s oldest daughter, as part of a series of attacks, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The Trump administration increased pressure on crime cartels operating out of Brazil on Thursday by moving to classify two of the country’s biggest drug gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
Fox News: Acting AG Todd Blanche announces charges against Iranian-Iraqi national in terror case
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche discusses anti-I.C.E. protests in New Jersey and the DOJ's charging of a dual Iranian-Iraqi national in a terror case on ‘The Will Cain Show.’
Ahead of the American Jewish Committee’s annual Global Forum conference, which begins in Washington on Sunday, the group’s CEO, Ted Deutch, is reflecting on a significantly transformed landscape — in which, he said, antisemitism has become mainstream in politics and circles of power in alarming ways that seemed to leave the longtime former congressman stunned.
Daily News: NYPD flooding Israel Day Parade with cops amid rising antisemitic tensions in NYC
The NYPD is deploying the “largest number of officers ever assigned” to the Israel Day Parade this Sunday amid rising antisemitic tensions in New York City, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday.
Dozens of New York City Jewish faith leaders and over 1,300 Jewish New Yorkers are calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take concrete action against rising antisemitism and to condemn anti-Zionist language such as "globalize the intifada," noted in two open letters publicized on Thursday.
Jewish Insider: At Mich. Senate debate, McMorrow says Dems have an antisemitism problem
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow offered a straightforward answer when asked at a debate on Thursday, alongside the other two Democrats vying for an open Senate seat in Michigan, whether there is an antisemitism problem in the Democratic Party.
Federal prosecutors have charged a Tennessee man with multiple counts of child sexual exploitation, alleging he operated as part of "764," an online violent extremist network. Zachary Sweeney, 30, of Columbia, has been federally indicted on multiple child sexual exploitation charges.
Fox 10 Phoenix: Nazi salute during Arizona school board
Multiple organizations are demanding a Deer Valley Unified School District board member resign, after she performed a Nazi salute and said "heil" during a public meeting.
Canada
The mayor of Montreal has questioned whether police should intervene more forcefully during protests after a downtown demonstration featuring hanging effigies triggered a hate-crimes investigation and accusations of antisemitism. “What we saw this weekend is unacceptable. It’s a clear act of antisemitism that we saw in Montreal,” Soraya Martinez Ferrada said Wednesday, adding that she would speak with police about “what the limit is in terms of intervention.”
CBC: Muslim group calls for investigation after online threats target Eid gathering in Quebec
A Quebec-based Muslim advocacy group is calling for a full investigation after hateful and violent comments flooded social media following a private Eid al-Adha prayer gathering in Trois-Rivières, Que., this week.
Belarus
Belsat: Belarusian dissident priest added to official "extremist" list
Orthodox priest Yuri Roy reported that the police were looking for him. Priest Yury Roy, who serves the Belarusian diaspora in Vilnius, posted a photo of the arrest warrant issued for him on his Facebook page, captioning it ironically with "Here it is, glory!"
France
New York Times: France’s Far Right Has 2 Leaders. They Don’t Always Have One Voice.
It was hardly an epochal dispute, but when France’s two leading far-right politicians, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, split recently over whether to impose a windfall profits tax on a giant French oil company — she was all for it; he was reluctant — political analysts in Paris sat up and took notice.
Germany
Ynet: Replica of Auschwitz gate, swastikas placed outside German tax office
A 33-year-old advertising agency manager was arrested after placing a replica of the entrance gate to the Auschwitz death camp outside a tax office in southern Germany, alongside a structure resembling a Holocaust-era crematorium. Authorities launched an investigation on suspicion of incitement to hatred and violations of Germany’s strict laws on the use of Nazi symbols.
Rudaw: German woman goes on trial for allegedly supporting ISIS through aid collections
A 42-year-old German woman appeared before the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court on Thursday, accused of collecting financial aid for families linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) through online campaigns.
Switzerland
Le News: Knife attack suspect active in the Islamic extremist scene in Winterthur
Swiss investigators believe the man suspected of injuring three people in a knife attack in Winterthur had longstanding links to the local Islamist extremist scene, reported SRF.
United Kingdom
The Telegraph: Isis terrorist jailed for 15 years over Taylor Swift concert plot
A 21-year-old Austrian man who plotted an attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna has been jailed for 15 years. The defendant – who has been named publicly only as Beran A, in line with Austrian privacy laws – planned to target concert-goers outside the Ernst Happel Stadium using knives or home-made explosives, a court in Austria heard.
Jerusalem Post: 'Evil Zionist': Helen Mirren harrassed on London streets over Israel support
Actress Helen Mirren was called an "evil Zionist b****" by a man in the street on Wednesday, while walking in the East London neighborhood of Tower Hill.
The Telegraph: Pro-Palestinian activist’s abuse of Helen Mirren treated as hate crime
Police are treating the harassment of Dame Helen Mirren in the street by a pro-Palestine activist as a hate crime, The Telegraph understands.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: UN Confirms Taliban Rape & Sexual Abuse Of Afghan Women
United Nations Security Council says Taliban officials and fighters committed sexual violence against women, with United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documenting 21 cases involving 15 women and six girls in 2025.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Reuters: Netanyahu directs Israeli forces to expand Gaza control to 70 percent
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had directed Israel's military to take more of Gaza, initially by seizing 70% of the Palestinian territory, where the population is already penned into a tiny strip of land along the coast.
The IDF believes that Hamas is operating fiber-optic drones in the Gaza Strip, similar to the drones Hezbollah uses to inflict casualties and injuries in the North, a Southern Command officer told Walla.
The deputy commander of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip this week, the IDF confirms.
Fox News: Hamas struggles to fill leadership ranks as Israel hunts Oct 7 terrorists
Just before celebrations for Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday, began in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Gaza City, killing Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, according to Israeli officials and later confirmed by Hamas.
Iran
Iran International: Messages from Iran point to renewed hijab patrols after ceasefire
Messages sent to Iran International point to a renewed wave of security and social pressure in several Iranian cities, as prospects for a possible agreement and the continuation of the ceasefire between the Islamic Republic, Israel and the United States have become more serious.
Israel
Times of Israel: Arab Israeli teen arrested on terror suspicions in killing of married couple
The Israel Police and the Shin Bet arrested a 17-year-old Arab Israeli on suspicion of killing a married couple last week in central Israel, in what law enforcement now believes was a terror attack.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Berri rejects Qassem's remarks on toppling government
Speaker Nabih Berri said that what concerns him at the present time and what he is intervening in is "preventing any recklessness or internal problems." In an interview with the Asas Media news portal, Berri rejected Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem's threat to bring down the government, saying: "I do not agree with him, and it is unnecessary to say this. It did not reassure me, and we quickly resolved the matter."
Naharnet: Hezbollah rejects direct talks anew, Israel says wants disarmament, peace deal
Hezbollah has again rejected direct talks between Lebanon and Israel on the eve of military negotiations between the two sides. The Iran-backed group believes that Beirut doesn't have the leverage to stop the war and have Israel withdraw its troops.
Australia
Canberra Times: Counter-terror records hidden from anti-Semitism probe
The attorney-general has defended the decision to block the royal commission into anti-Semitism from accessing documents relating to Australia's counter-terrorism agency.
The Australian: Royal commission asked to tune in to Jewish station’s licensing battle
Australia’s only Jewish community radio station is fighting a decade-long licensing battle to broadcast outside of Melbourne’s Jewish belt – their coverage is currently restricted to a less than 10km zone. The station in Melbourne’s inner city, called J-AIR 88FM, has operated on a low-power open narrowcasting that was issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2014.
Australian children are being radicalised “within days” as online extremism and exploitation surges, according to the nation’s top cop. So alarmed by the worsening situation — Krissy Barrett will work with international partners at a high-level police summit in the UK next month to urge tech giants to step up.
Stay up to date on our latest news.
Get the latest news on extremism and counter-extremism delivered to your inbox.