Eye on Extremism: October 31, 2025
Top Stories
CNN: FBI director says ‘potential terrorist attack’ over Halloween weekend was averted
The FBI prevented a potential terrorist attack over Halloween weekend, Director Kash Patel posted on X early Friday. “This morning the FBI thwarted a potential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan who were allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend. More details to come,” Patel’s post read.
Times of Israel: NYC mayor warns antisemitism spreading ‘like a cancer’ across city
New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned Thursday that antisemitism was spreading “like a cancer” across the city and the US, speaking out against anti-Israel rhetoric days before a city-wide vote that could see a strident critic of the Jewish state replace him in office. Adams is a staunch supporter of Israel with deep ties to the city’s Jewish communities. He has often spoken out against antisemitism and has taken a series of measures to combat hatred against Jews as mayor. In the speech, Adams highlighted an art exhibit on Governor’s Island this week that included images that said “Hamas lover,” “F**k Israel,” “‘Beyond the pale’: Israel’s existence,” and showed a Star of David on a Ku Klux Klan hood.
CEP Mentions
CapX: Our probation crisis is no laughing matter
CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: David Lammy didn’t cover himself in glory this week in Parliament. Our Lord Chancellor chortled and guffawed while his shadow Robert Jenrick tried to hold him to account for the release in error of a registered child sex offender from HMP Chelmsford whose crime sparked national protests. The shelf life of ‘but the Tories’ as a reflexive response to every ill is running out. It has kept Labour MPs well fed and with some justification, but voters are less easy to satisfy. The latest security calamity comes, after all, a year and change after the arrival of the supposed changemakers.
Analysis
ICCT: “It Can’t Happen Here”? Designating Antifa as a Terrorist Organisation in Europe
This analysis gives some context on Antifa and on the events in the US surrounding its designation. It then looks at European politicians’ and governments’ reactions – and in several cases approval – toward Trump’s move. Finally, it examines possible consequences for counter-terrorism measures in Europe if the aforementioned approval and support of a designation spreads onto the continent: do claims stating It Can’t Happen Here actually hold?
About half of the European foreign fighters who joined jihadist groups in Syria had a criminal record. In Sweden, as many as about two-thirds had been convicted of a crime, and several of them had a gang background. Previous research has suggested that such a background has often played a role in the radicalisation process. This study identifies six factors that explain why jihadism has held particular appeal for individuals with criminal backgrounds.
s vigorous American and international efforts to stabilize the Gaza ceasefire and establish an International Stabilization Force (ISF) continue, Washington is focusing less on civilian governance in the Strip. In the meantime, regional efforts are under way to secure agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas about the composition of the “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee” that will temporarily govern Gaza.
New York Times: ‘Not So Bulletproof’: A Far-Right Party Faces Rebuke in the Netherlands
Dutch voters rebuked a far-right party in Wednesday’s national elections after it had caused months of political upheaval, and they unexpectedly threw support to a center-left party that ran on promises of stability and hope. That sudden reorientation is likely to usher in a more centrist government in the Netherlands, which says something about the state of not only Dutch politics but of populism in Europe more broadly.
Jewish Insider: RJC kicks off 40th anniversary summit amid GOP’s antisemitism reckoning
The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit kicks off tonight at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas with much to celebrate. President Donald Trump’s recently brokered ceasefire and hostage-release agreement is certain to be among the administration’s accomplishments touted by a range of high-profile speakers including Cabinet officials, congressional leaders, pundits and media figures.
United States
Associated Press: UN human rights chief says US strikes on alleged drug boats are ‘unacceptable’
The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a United Nations organization.
Axios: Scoop: U.S. offered Hamas militants safe passage out of Israel-controlled Gaza zone
The U.S. offered Hamas militants safe passage from areas in Gaza controlled by Israel to parts the group controls, U.S. and Israeli officials tell Axios.
As the U.S. continues conducting deadly strikes against vessels it claims are involved in drug trafficking, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth again described the "narco-terrorists" the U.S. has been targeting as "the al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere." Hegseth's comments, which he made in Malaysia, repeated the point he has previously made as the Trump administration stands staunchly behind its controversial policy.
Reuters: On the rise in Germany, far-right AfD deepens ties to Trump administration
Germany's far-right AfD party, long shunned at home, is courting support in Washington, leveraging ties to MAGA personalities who have risen to senior roles in the Trump administration. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), classified as extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence service and ostracised by mainstream parties, has held meetings with senior U.S. State Department officials in recent months — a rare move for a far-right opposition party in an allied country, according to a current and a former U.S. official and a German government source.
Ted Cruz warned of rising antisemitism on the right — and a lack of Republican voices calling it out — as he kicked off the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit Thursday night. The speech reiterated comments he made at a San Antonio megachurch last week, including the core message that he’s recently seen more right-wing antisemitism than ever before.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams used his podium in City Hall Thursday to take aim at an anti-Israel art installation that appeared on Governors Island over the weekend. In a virtual address, Adams also took thinly veiled aim at Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner to replace him after next week’s election, suggesting that the kind of antisemitism that he said had festered even under his leadership would explode under Mamdani’s.
The president of a prominent Republican-aligned think tank defended conservative media personality Tucker Carlson after he offered a platform to a far-right activist known for pushing white nationalist and antisemitic views. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted a video to social media Thursday in which he denied that the group was “distancing itself” from the former Fox News host after Carlson’s podcast hosted Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as trying to preserve America’s white, Christian identify.
A BDS resolution that accuses Jewish students of “weaponizing antisemitism” and blames labor disputes on “Zionist interests” is advancing in the Cornell University Graduate Student Union — where unlike many other unions, dues are mandatory.
In recent days, a chorus of left-wing lawmakers in Congress have ramped up their ire towards the United Arab Emirates, accusing the Gulf country of helping fuel the yearslong civil war in Sudan by reportedly backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the non-Islamist Arab force fighting the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
Jewish Insider: Overhauled Kennedy Center takes on the mantle of combating antisemitism
Artist and curator Josef Palermo has lived in Washington for nearly two decades, but he wasn’t aware that the Kennedy Center had an Israeli lounge until he joined the venerable cultural institution as its curator of visual arts and special programming this summer. The Israeli Lounge has been underutilized in recent decades and largely unknown, even among the many Jewish patrons of the arts at the Kennedy Center. Yitzhak Rabin, then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, dedicated the lounge — a small room designed to visually tell the history of Jewish and Israeli music — as Israel’s gift to the United States in 1971, when the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors alongside the Potomac River.
Germany
Deutsche Welle: Afghans on route to Germany despite resettlement freeze
A group of Afghans is currently making its way to Germany for resettlement despite a German government freeze on the policy. It is the third resettlement of Afghans to Germany since this year's change of government in Berlin. Germany's previous SPD/Green/FDP government pledged to resettle former local staff at German institutions — plus their relatives — and others, such as lawyers and journalists, who fear persecution by the Taliban. Germany's new conservative-led government pledged in its coalition contract to end voluntary federal admission programs for Afghanistan and others — as well as pledging not to replace these with similar new programs.
Deutsche Welle: Munich court convicts three men of spying for Russia
A court in Munich has convicted three men of espionage for Russia, handing the main defendant a six-year prison sentence for spying, planning sabotage, and past involvement as a paramilitary fighter in eastern Ukraine. Investigators claim he later spied for Russia while in Germany between October 2023 and April 2024, plotting arson and sabotage against military sites and key railway lines, with help from the two other men. All three suspects denied the espionage charges, insisting their discussions were ironic.
Afghanistan
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani has accused Pakistan of running “brazen propaganda and provocations” against the group, saying some individuals in Pakistan are fuelling conflict. Haqqani said that despite years of internal enmity and discontent, Afghans are united in defending their country against foreign aggression.
Afghanistan International: Pakistan Army Chief Accuses Taliban Of Aiding India-Linked Militants
Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban of supporting militants allegedly backed by India, warning that Islamabad will not allow Afghan soil to be used for terrorist activities against Pakistan. Speaking on Thursday at a meeting with tribal elders in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Munir reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to maintain peaceful relations with Afghanistan but said the Taliban continued to assist India-linked militant groups despite Islamabad’s efforts to improve ties.
Economic Times: ISIS terrorist confesses to training in Pakistan after arrest in Afghanistan
Afghan security sources have confirmed the arrest of an ISIS terrorist identified as Saeedullah, who admitted to receiving terrorist training in Pakistan before infiltrating Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing, Tolo News reported.
Gaza Strip
Foreign Affairs: How to Solve Gaza’s Hamas Problem
If Hamas is allowed to reassert its influence and Israel is forced to continue to intervene at this or even larger scale, the cease-fire may become yet another temporary interlude in an unending conflict. The security challenge was anticipated in U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, which specifically calls for the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilization force for Gaza. Yet the time required to carry out complex negotiations on the implementation of these goals has created a vacuum that will worsen the longer action is delayed or stalled.
Associated Press: Israel hands over bodies of 30 Palestinians, Gaza hospital officials say
Israel has handed over the bodies of 30 Palestinians, according to the Red Cross and hospital officials in Gaza, a day after Palestinian militants returned the remains of two hostages to Israel. A doctor at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis confirmed receiving the bodies and said they were all unidentified. The Red Cross said that its teams had facilitated the transfer.
Iraq
The Medialine: Iraq Captures IS Logistics Chief Linked to Deadly Attacks on Security Forces
Iraqi security forces have captured a senior Islamic State (IS) operative accused of orchestrating attacks that killed 19 members of the country’s security forces, officials announced Tuesday. The suspect, known as Abu Mohammed, was detained in Baghdad following a targeted operation by the Iraqi National Security Service (INSS). Authorities said the arrest came after a prolonged intelligence effort that traced his movements through multiple regions before he was lured into custody. According to the INSS, preliminary questioning revealed that Abu Mohammed joined the terror group in 2014 and took part in several deadly assaults in the Latifiya area, south of the capital. Those attacks claimed the lives of soldiers and members of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Israel
Times of Israel: Netanyahu: Israel will disarm Hamas and demilitarize Gaza if foreign troops don’t
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday that Hamas will be disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized, asserting that if the international community doesn’t do it, then Israel will. Netanyahu’s comments came even as the US continues to lead efforts to put together a force that will be both willing to see through the disarmament mission and be acceptable to Israel, which continues to insist on excluding Turkey, which is keen to participate. Israel “has more work” to do in Gaza, Netanyahu said, speaking at an Israel Defense Forces cadets’ graduation ceremony at the Bahad 1 officers’ school in southern Israel.
Jerusalem Post: Israeli security cabinet meets to discuss Hezbollah's strengthening
Israel's Security Cabinet and the heads of the security establishment are meeting on Thursday evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the strengthening of Hezbollah in Lebanon. "This is a significant discussion in light of Hezbollah's actions on the ground," an Israeli official said. Senior officials in the Trump administration have also recently approached top Lebanese government officials and urged them to open dialogue with Israel, several sources told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. “In the end, only a broader dialogue between Israel and Lebanon can advance and improve the situation on the ground,” a Western diplomat told the Post.
Hamas on Thursday returned to Israel the remains of two deceased hostages, Amiram Cooper, 84, and Sahar Baruch, 25, with Israeli authorities confirming their identities within hours. Military representatives notified their families of the development, following the completion of identification efforts by forensic experts.
Times of Israel: ‘An eye for an eye’: Hamas wrote message to Ben Gvir on hostage Maxim Herkin’s back
Former hostage Maxim Herkin recounted in an interview broadcast Thursday that his Hamas captors severely beat him and then wrote the words, “a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye” on his back as a message to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who received a photo. The young father, 35, who hid the fact that he was an IDF reserve officer from his captors, was the latest freed hostage to report being tortured as a result of Ben Gvir’s highly publicized campaign to worsen the conditions of Palestinian inmates. He also detailed the circumstances of his capture, when his two friends were killed at his side, and the brutal interrogations to which he was subjected in captivity.
Times of Israel: New footage shows settlers slaughtering sheep during attack on Palestinian village
The Times of Israel has obtained new footage of a settler attack earlier this week on a Palestinian hamlet in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank, with the clip showing the brutal slaughter of sheep belonging to one of the residents. The livestock belonged to Mahmoud Drameen, who identified the masked men as local settlers in a complaint filed to Israel Police on Wednesday. The complaint also included graphic security camera footage documenting the attack, which also caught the masked men smashing the windows of his car.
Israel's prosecution office intends to file an indictment against a 14-year-old Jaffa resident who is suspected of operating on behalf of ISIS and Hamas by filming sensitive sites and attempting to make explosives, Israel Police said Friday.
Lebanon
The Hill: Diaspora voting could help break Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon
Lebanon today stands at a turning point in its history. After years of economic collapse, political paralysis and the corrosive dominance of the Iranian-backed party and armed paramilitary group Hezbollah, the country faces a stark choice: Seize the chance to reclaim its sovereignty and democratic promise or remain hostage to Hezbollah’s weapons and Iran’s influence. The upcoming parliamentary elections, expected to be held in May, will not just be another contest for seats; they will be a test of whether Lebanon’s people, at home and abroad, can assert control over their own destiny.
Jerusalem Post: Lebanon demands Israeli strikes stop, but does not address Hezbollah disarmament
Lebanon wants Israel’s continued airstrikes to stop. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire last November after the IDF dealt Hezbollah serious blows. The ceasefire is ostensibly between Israel and Lebanon, and this covers Hezbollah, because it should mean that Israel’s airstrikes stop. Israel has asserted, however, that it has a right to continue striking Hezbollah. Tensions are escalating. “Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army on Thursday to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, despite a US-brokered ceasefire,” Reuters reported.
The IDF killed a Hezbollah maintenance officer, Ibrahim Muhammad Raslan, in the Kounine area in southern Lebanon, the military said Friday. Raslan was attempting to rebuild Hezbollah infrastructure in the area, according to the IDF.
Naharnet: Qassem: Intimidation will not change our stances
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem noted Friday that Israeli attacks on Lebanon increase whenever a U.S. official visits the country or talks about it. “What is America's stance on 5,000 Israeli violations against Lebanon?” Qassem asked, in a televised address.
Naharnet: UNIFIL says Blida raid a blatant violation of 1701, Lebanon's sovereignty
UNIFIL has expressed "deep concerns" at an Israeli armed incursion that killed a municipal worker in the southern border town of Blida early on Thursday. "Such Israeli action north of the Blue Line represents a blatant violation of the Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty," it said in a statement.
Syria
Reuters: No spoils of war: Syria's new ruler lays down the law to loyalists
"I didn't know the salaries the government pays were this high!" Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa joked after more than 100 loyalists arrived at his former rebel base, many pulling up in luxury SUVs. "Have you forgotten you are the sons of the revolution?" Sharaa rebuked the gathered officials and business leaders, according to two people present, remarking upon the large number of Cadillac Escalades, Range Rovers and Chevrolet Tahoes parked outside. "Have you been tempted so quickly?"
Turkey
Once promoted as a democratic model for the Muslim world, Turkey has become a major hub for organized crime and international drug trafficking as its political system has grown more authoritarian, according to a report by the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). The study, written by political scientist Hakkı Taş and published in October, describes what it calls Turkey’s “narco-authoritarian turn,” in which criminal networks, political repression and corruption reinforce one another.
Reuters: Turkey to host Gaza meeting on Monday amid ceasefire concerns
Foreign ministers of some Muslim countries will meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and next steps there, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, voicing concern over whether the ceasefire will continue. Speaking at a press conference in Ankara, Fidan said the gathering would include foreign ministers of countries represented at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York in September.
Yemen
Reuters: Houthis say detained UN staff to face trial over Israeli attack
Detained local United Nations staff will face trial on suspicion of links to an Israeli airstrike that assassinated top Houthi leaders in Yemen in August, the acting foreign minister of the Houthi government told Reuters. The prime minister of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi-run government and several other ministers were killed in an Israeli strike on the capital Sanaa in August, the first such attack to kill senior officials.
India
Afghanistan International: India Calls Pakistan’s Actions Against Taliban ‘Unacceptable’
India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, has criticised Pakistan’s recent actions against the Taliban, calling them “unacceptable” and a violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, 30 October, Jaiswal said Pakistan’s anger stems from the Taliban’s “independence and assertion of sovereignty” and accused Islamabad of believing it can “carry out cross-border terrorist activities without consequence.”
Pakistan
Afghanistan International: Pakistan Hopes Next Round Of Taliban Talks Will Yield Results
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has expressed optimism that the next round of talks with the Taliban, scheduled for next week in Istanbul, will produce “positive results.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andarabi told reporters on Friday that the second round of talks, initially planned for two days, extended to four as both sides sought common ground.
The Taliban’s embassy in Islamabad has claimed that Pakistani police have detained more than 10,000 Afghan migrants amid rising tensions between the two countries. In a statement issued on Thursday, Taliban Ambassador Sardar Ahmad Shakib said police have been publicly urging citizens to identify and report Afghans for arrest. He described the situation as “dire,” saying many migrants are living in “extremely difficult conditions.”
Afghanistan International: Senior Pakistani Taliban Commander Killed Near Afghan Border
Pakistan’s military said on Thursday that Qari Amjad, also known as Mufti Muzahim, a senior leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed during a security operation in Bajaur district near the Afghan border. In a statement, the Pakistani army said the operation took place overnight between 29 and 30 October, after security forces detected movements by a TTP group attempting to infiltrate across the Pakistan–Afghanistan frontier.
Niger
Reuters: US issues travel advisory to Niger after kidnapping
The United States on Friday issued a travel advisory warning U.S. citizens against traveling to Niger, citing crime, unrest, terrorism, health and kidnapping. The State Department advisory follows the kidnapping, opens new tab last week of an American missionary in Niger's capital Niamey.
Nigeria
Reuters: Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM says it killed soldier in first Nigeria attack
Al-Qaeda–linked militant group, a Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed a soldier in central Nigeria this week, its first known attack in the country. In a video posted on its Telegram channel late on Thursday, JNIM said it launched the attack in Nigeria's Kwara state in the early hours of Wednesday, killing a soldier and seizing ammunition and cash.
AFP: Video shows extremists seizing Burkina Faso military ware, not jihadists in Nigeria
Northern Nigeria has endured years of insecurity as jihadist groups and armed criminals terrorise communities, forcing thousands to flee their homes. A recent social media post claims to show a video of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in a north-central Nigerian state with seized military assets. But the claim is false; the video, taken in 2024, shows military equipment captured in Burkina Faso by a group affiliated with al-Qaida in West Africa.
Sudan
Fighters riding camels rounded up a couple of hundred men near the Sudanese city of al-Fashir at the weekend and brought them to a reservoir, shouting racial slurs before starting to shoot, according to a man who said he was among them. One of the captors recognized him from his school days and let him flee, the man, Alkheir Ismail, said in a video interview conducted by a local journalist known to Reuters in the nearby town of Tawila in the country's western Darfur region.
Reuters: Hundreds may have been executed in capture of Sudanese city, UN rights office says
Hundreds of Sudanese civilians and unarmed fighters may have been killed during the Sudanese paramilitary forces' capture of the long-besieged city of Al-Fashir, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday. The city, the Sudanese army's last significant holdout in the western region of Darfur, fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Sunday, ending an 18-month siege.
Technology
American Jewish leaders have blamed Tiktok for allowing antisemitism to spread among young people and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently accused China of using the platform to promote anti-Israel sentiment around the world — a charge China denies.
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