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CEP Mentions
Generation Jihad Podcast: New UN report on state of global jihad
Bill is joined by Caleb Weiss and CEP Senior Advisor Edmund Fitton-Brown to analyze the UN’s latest Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team report on the evolving threats posed by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State — from their current state and leadership to the geopolitical influences at play and strategic significance of areas like Syria, Iraq, and Somalia.
Cybernews: “They apologize for the notification, not for platforming Nazis:” Substack under fire for promoting radical content
Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst, has been monitoring Substack’s significance for groups such as neo-Nazis to spread their propaganda, reports Ars Technica. His findings reveal that Substack has been seen as a platform on which content is less likely to be removed compared with other platforms. However, he believes the platform will continue to tolerate such content, reminding us of its failure to follow “limited community guidelines” in 2024. During that time, a white supremacist blog urged violence against Jewish people, which was reported by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).
Analysis
VOX-POL: Gore and Violent Extremism
Gore-related websites enable the hosting and sharing of illegal videos, including those produced by proscribed terrorist entities. The websites are numerous, free to access, provide no user or child safety features, and have seen a growth in visitor numbers in recent years due to ongoing conflicts. Most gore-related websites offer download and social media share functionality allowing for graphic content, including 1000s showing terrorist violence, to be shared across social media.
RealClear Defense: The Jihadist Threat Has Evolved. Our Strategy Must Too
We urgently need to move beyond short-term disruption and adopt a comprehensive, preemptive counterterrorism strategy fit for today’s threat landscape. This strategy must rest on six interdependent pillars: education, legislation, intelligence, enforcement, deterrence, and defense. Today’s jihadist ecosystem is no longer centered in Raqqa or Mosul. It operates as a decentralized constellation of cells, ideologues, and radicalized individuals. What connects them is not a hierarchy but a shared doctrine of perpetual insurgency.
GNET: Transnational White Supremacy: Digital Violent Extremism from West to East
This Insight will discuss and analyse how violent white supremacist and far-right extremist networks from the West have been influencing the homegrown non-white extremists in different Asian countries. These non-white extremists draw symbols, terms, and ideology from white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and express violent anti-migrant, antisemitic, and anti-Muslim rhetoric in relation to the local context.
United States
Reuters: US imposes visa sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Thursday, accusing them of undermining peace efforts with Israel even as other Western powers moved toward recognition of Palestinian statehood. The State Department said it would deny visas for travel to the U.S. by those it was targeting, although it did not name any specific individuals. The State Department said the two Palestinian organizations had "taken actions to internationalize" their conflict with Israel, including through the International Criminal Court, and said both had continued "to support terrorism."
Reuters: Trump's envoy meets Netanyahu for Gaza aid, ceasefire push
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in a bid to salvage Gaza truce talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine is unfolding. Shortly after Witkoff's arrival, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social network: "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!" Following the meeting, a senior Israeli official said an understanding between Israel and the U.S. was emerging that there was a need to move from a plan to release some of the hostages to a plan to release all the hostages, disarm Hamas militants, and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
Times of Israel: Trump: Fastest way to end Gaza suffering is for Hamas to surrender, release the hostages
US President Donald Trump says the Hamas terror group should surrender and release the 50 hostages it is holding in order to end hunger and other woes in Gaza. “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” he writes on his Truth Social platform.
Jerusalem Post: Brown University strikes $50M deal with Trump admin over allegations of campus antisemitism
Brown University announced Wednesday it had struck a $50 million dollar deal with the Trump administration to regain its federal research funding after losing it last spring over allegations of campus antisemitism. The announcement comes one week after Columbia University agreed to a $221 million settlement with the Trump administration over funding canceled in March over antisemitism allegations. A deal with Harvard University reportedly looms. (The University of Pennsylvania, penalized over its inclusion of transgender student athletes, recently reached its own deal.)
New York Times: Trump Administration Is Cutting Funds to U.C.L.A., Chancellor Says
In a statement late Thursday, the chancellor, Julio Frenk, said that the federal government was cutting “hundreds of grants” to the university made through the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. He did not specify which funds were being cut or by how much. The move makes U.C.L.A. the latest university to be targeted by Trump administration officials over accusations that it has not done enough to combat antisemitism on campus. It comes amid a broader pushback by the administration against what it sees as “woke” ideologies.
Tallahassee Democrat: FSU student under investigation after incident draws fire from antisemitism awareness group
Florida State University is investigating a case of "antisemitic harassment" captured in a viral video that hours later would draw the attention of the U.S. attorney general. In a short video clip, shared by a group that fights antisemitism, a woman is seen flicking off and yelling at a man sitting inside what appears to be the Leach Student Recreation Center. She approaches the man who is wearing an Israel Defense Forces shirt as he's filming her and begins yelling.
Jewish Insider: Senate Appropriations committee debates Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdowns
Senate Appropriations committee members sparred on Thursday over the Trump administration’s sweeping moves to combat campus antisemitism, including withholding hundreds of millions of dollars from some elite institutions.
Europe
El Mundo America: Europol warns of the persistent "threat" of jihadist terrorism
Europol has warned of the persistent "threat" of jihadist terrorism in the old continent, with 24 plots (six attacks and 18 foiled attempts) throughout 2024, compared to 14 in 2023 and just six in 2022. The latest report from the European Police Office warns of the massive use of new technologies and artificial intelligence in the service of the extremist cause, as well as the recruitment of increasingly younger sympathizers.
France
CNN: France halts all evacuations from Gaza over alleged antisemitic reposts by Palestinian student
The French government will deport a Gaza student accused of reposting alleged antisemitic content on her social media and halt all evacuations from the territory, the country’s foreign minister said Friday as outrage grows over her reposts. “She must leave the country. She does not have a place in France,” Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview with radio station France Info, without saying if authorities would return the student back to Gaza.
Politico: The French far right’s financial Catch-22
On a sunny July morning in the French capital, a pair of investigating judges and some 20 law enforcement officers in bulletproof vests stormed into the unassuming headquarters of the National Rally, wedged between a frozen food store and a building cloaked in scaffolding. France’s far-right powerhouse had found itself in the crosshairs of the French justice system, which was probing allegations the party had funded several campaigns in part through illegal loans. Those runs included Marine Le Pen’s presidential bid and legislative elections in 2022; the 2024 European election, led by party president and rising star Jordan Bardella; and the surprise snap elections that followed.
Germany
Amadeu Antonio Stiftung: How the new generation of neo-Nazis is organizing itself
Right-wing extremist youth groups are currently experiencing an increase in popularity rarely seen in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. However, the development of a broader following consisting of children, adolescents and young adults is by no means accompanied by a moderation of positions and actions. Young neo-Nazis disrupt CSDs, attack political opponents and carry out attacks on youth centers, queer bars and alternative housing projects. They show solidarity with right-wing extremists and sometimes present themselves on social media with their real names, without masks, but with the Reich flag, white power gestures, on hikes and martial arts training sessions. The images are bursting with right-wing extremist self-empowerment and the staging of strength.
ARD: Extremists possess thousands of legal firearms
However, right-wing extremists still have access to more than 1,700 legal firearms. This is shown by a recent survey by NDR and WDR of the security authorities in all 16 federal states asking for data on gun licenses, the number of firearms in the possession of extremists and gun confiscation. Although all federal states sent responses, only eleven states stated how many weapons were in the possession of extremists. Even fewer stated the type of extremism to which the respective gun owners subscribe: At least 2,500 firearms are therefore legally owned by people the authorities classify as extremists. More than two thirds of these weapons - namely 1,765 - belong to right-wing extremists, neo-Nazis, "Reich citizens" or radical lateral thinkers. The actual figure is likely to be significantly higher, as not all countries reported which extremists own how many weapons.
Sweden
New York Times: ISIS Militant Sentenced to Life for Role in Burning Pilot Alive
A former Islamic State fighter who stood guard while a Jordanian pilot was burned alive a decade ago was sentenced to life in prison in a Swedish court on Thursday after being convicted of committing a war crime.
United Kingdom
The Telegraph: Terrorist set to be freed ‘told inmates he masterminded 7/7’
A jihadist set to be freed within days told inmates he masterminded the 9/11 and 7/7 terror attacks. Haroon Aswat, 50, could be released from a secure hospital unit in the UK in the near future without a full risk assessment because of his mental health treatment.
Reuters: UK ninja sword ban begins as 1,000 weapons surrendered in knife crime crackdown
At least 1,000 weapons have been surrendered under a British government amnesty launched last month to combat knife crime, the interior ministry announced on Friday, as a new ban on ninja swords came into effect. Overall, knife crime in England and Wales has risen 87% over the past decade, with 54,587 offences recorded last year alone, a 2% rise from 2023 and among the highest rates in Europe.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Permissive Toward Foreign Terrorists, Threatens Region, Say UN Experts
United Nations experts have warned that the Taliban is providing a permissive environment for foreign terrorist groups in Afghanistan, creating a serious threat to the security of Central Asia and the wider international community. In a new report to the UN Security Council, the panel of experts said several al-Qaeda-linked training camps are operating across Afghanistan, while the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) remains “the most serious threat” to both the region and global security.
Afghanistan International: Targeted Taliban Morality Police In Kabul, Says Resistance Group
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) has claimed responsibility for an armed attack on a Taliban checkpoint in Kabul, where members of the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were reportedly stationed. In a statement released late Thursday, 31 July, the AFF said the assault took place in the Chilston area of Kabul’s Police District 7. The group claimed that three Taliban fighters were killed and two members of the Taliban’s so-called morality police were wounded.
Afghanistan International: Taliban To Face People’s Tribunal In Spain Over Abuses Against Afghan Women
Four Afghan civil society organisations announced on Thursday the launch of the People’s Tribunal for Afghan Women, an independent forum aimed at examining the Taliban’s systemic oppression and institutionalised violence against women since returning to power in 2021. The hearings will be held in Madrid from 8 to 10 October in collaboration with the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, and will include participation from international judges, prosecutors and subject-matter experts. Organisers say the tribunal seeks to hold the Taliban morally and politically accountable, even though it lacks legal enforcement powers.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Conducts House Raids In Uruzgan, Arrests Former Security Personnel
The Taliban has launched a series of house-to-house searches in Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan province, targeting former military personnel, local sources told Afghanistan International. The search operation, which began last week, has so far resulted in the arrest of at least eight former army, police, and national security officers, allegedly on charges of possessing illegal weapons.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Detains Afghan Journalist Over Alleged Funding From UN Agencies, Iran
The Taliban has detained the editor-in-chief of Tawana news agency on charges of receiving foreign funding and publishing material critical of the regime, according to statement by the group’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The Taliban alleges that the editor accepted financial support from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ministry claims the funds were used to “bring women out of their homes under the pretext of work” and to produce “negative reports” about the Taliban government.
Amu: UN agency: Taliban interference has halted hundreds of aid projects
More than 240 humanitarian projects in Afghanistan were suspended in the first half of this year because of Taliban interference, gender restrictions and administrative obstacles, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report, warning that relief efforts for millions of Afghans risk collapsing altogether. OCHA said 245 aid activities were halted between January and June, mostly in central, southern and western Afghanistan. The suspensions followed 489 reported access incidents, ranging from the detention of aid workers to restrictions on women’s employment.
Gaza Strip
New York Times: Trump Envoy Sees Gaza Aid Efforts Firsthand
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy for peace missions, visited an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip on Friday as a hunger crisis in the Palestinian enclave deepens. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the past two months in Gaza while trying to secure aid, which has led to growing international pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian suffering.
Reuters: France starts airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza
France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza as it urged Israel to allow full access to the area which it said was slipping into famine. "Faced with the absolute urgency, we have just conducted a food airdrop operation in Gaza. Thank you to our Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support, and to our military personnel for their commitment," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media platform X.
Iran
Reuters: UK, US, France, 11 other nations condemn Iranian intelligence threats
Britain and 13 allies including the United States and France condemned on Thursday what they called a surge in assassination, kidnapping and harassment plots by Iranian intelligence services targeting individuals in Europe and North America. "We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty," the countries said in a joint statement. The governments - of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the U.S. - called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop such illegal activities.
Iran International: Tehran rejects Western warnings on Iranian intelligence threats as smear campaign
Iran rejected a joint statement by the United States and thirteen allied governments that said Tehran has engaged in plots targeting individuals in Europe and North America, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Friday. “This is a clear fabrication and a desperate move to divert attention,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in remarks carried by state media. “These baseless narratives are part of a broader Iranophobia campaign designed to justify hostile policies toward Iran.”
Jerusalem Post: Fighting the world, losing the war: IRGC talks big after beatdown by Israel
Yet in the real world, Iran’s skies had been ruled by Israeli drones. Its nuclear infrastructure was set back by years. Its air defenses were shattered. Its IRGC elite, including Quds Force commanders and senior scientists, were eliminated. What Khamenei portrayed as victory, the region witnessed as a stunning and humiliating exposure of Iran’s vulnerabilities. Even more troubling was his absence during the war. Multiple credible reports revealed that the supreme leader had been moved to a secure underground facility, his location known to only a handful of aides. Electronic communications were severed. Senior Iranian officials reportedly didn’t know where he was or whether he remained fully briefed. When even insiders are asking who is in charge, it signals a regime in free fall.
Israel
Jerusalem Post: IDF bombs largest Hezbollah precision missile factory in Lebanon to block terror org. rebuidling
The IDF on Thursday bombed the largest Hezbollah precision missile facility in Lebanon to prevent the Lebanese terror group from rebuilding it, Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed. The IDF said it attacked sites in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, as well as the Bekaa Valley, around 100 km. further north. During the September-November 2024 heightened point of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the air force had previously attacked the same facility. More recently, IDF intelligence noticed that Hezbollah was trying to rebuild it in order to reconstitute its precision missile apparatus.
Times of Israel: Court refuses to extend house arrest for settler suspected of killing prominent West Bank activist
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court refuses a police request to extend the house arrest of Yinon Levi, a sanctioned settler who allegedly shot dead a Palestinian activist on Monday during a confrontation near the West Bank village of Umm al Kheir. The court says evidence has “weakened” suspicions that the shot fired by Levi killed the Palestinian activist.
Times of Israel: ‘No more partial deals’: Official says Israel, US now back comprehensive plan for Gaza
As negotiations with Hamas stall, Israel and the United States are now aligned on aiming for a comprehensive framework in place of a partial ceasefire and hostage-release deal, a senior Israeli official told reporters during a Thursday briefing. “There will be no more partial deals,” the official was quoted as saying, explaining that Israel and the US now concur on the need to “shift from a framework for the release of some of the hostages to a framework for the release of all of the hostages, the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.”
Times of Israel: Islamic Jihad airs video of hostage Rom Braslavski; ‘They broke him,’ family says
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on Thursday published a video of hostage Rom Braslavski, whom they are holding captive in the Gaza Strip. The terror group claimed that the six-minute video was recorded days before it lost contact with the captors holding Braslavski, and alleged that the hostage’s fate was unknown.
Iran International: Israel warns of terror threat abroad, including from Iran, as UAE staff said to be pulled
Israel is pulling most diplomatic staff from the United Arab Emirates, Israeli media reported Thursday, after the National Security Council warned of threats from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups. “We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in its updated guidance, which reiterated a level-3 travel alert for the UAE.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Govt. likely to approve arms monopoly decision on Tuesday
The Lebanese government will likely approve Tuesday the article on monopolizing arms in the state’s hands, sources told Sky News Arabia on Friday. “The Lebanese government will task the Higher Defense Council with pressing on with measures to implement the government’s decision after the Army Command presents a plan,” the sources added.
Jewish News Syndicate: Hezbollah’s Radwan Force ‘unfit for large offensive’
The Israel Defense Forces inflicted a devastating blow on Hezbollah during September 2024’s “Operation Northern Arrows” against the Iranian-backed terrorist organization in Lebanon, dismantling 70%-80% of its short-range rocket launchers, killing or wounding thousands of its operatives and rendering its elite Radwan commando force incapable of launching a large-scale invasion of the Galilee, according to an Israeli security official.
Jewish News Syndicate: IDF launches wave of strikes after Hezbollah attempts to rebuild in Southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces launched a wave of attacks on Thursday night on targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Southern Lebanon, including its largest missile production site, the military confirmed.
Syria
Reuters: Syria forms committee to investigate Sweida violence
Syria has pledged to investigate clashes in the southern province of Sweida which killed hundreds of people last month -the second major episode of sectarian violence since the ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a decree dated July 31, justice minister Muzher al-Wais said a committee of seven people - including judges, lawyers and a military official - would look into the circumstances that led to the "events in Sweida" and report back within three months. The committee would investigate reported attacks and abuses against civilians and refer anyone proven to have participated in such attacks to the judiciary.
Yemen
Jerusalem Post: The Saudi solution: The army that could defeat the Houthis
Saudi Arabia has about four times Israel’s population, nearly three times Israel’s defense budget, three times as many regular army soldiers, and nearly as many reservists. That’s not to say it’s a better army than Israel’s, but it’s bigger. Big enough for the tasks at hand. We usually hear about the Saudi military only when the US announces its latest multi-billion-dollar arms deal with the kingdom, and Israel and its backers stand up and scream. But in the end, all that advanced military equipment is there and ready to go if Saudi Arabia has the motivation to use it. Saudi Arabia already fought the Houthis once. Cross-border clashes erupted in 2009 and continued off and on for a decade.
Somalia
Garowe Online: Somalia: Puntland Forces Capture Two Foreign ISIS Fugitives Near Kalabayr
Puntland defense forces captured two foreign ISIS militants near the Kalabayr area in the Bari region, following a sweeping operation that dismantled a key terrorist stronghold during the recent Almiskaad offensive.
Technology
The Guardian: Far-right extremists using games platforms to radicalise teenagers, report warns
Far-right extremists are using livestream gaming platforms to target and radicalise teenage players, a report has warned. The new research, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, reveals how a range of extremist groups and individuals use platforms that allow users to chat and livestream while playing video games to recruit and radicalise vulnerable users, mainly young males.
The Sentinel: Al Qaeda’s army of digital warriors: The new face of terror in India
The arrest of Shama Parveen Ansari in connection with an online radicalisation case only shows that outfits such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State have built a massive network of digital warriors. The probe found that she was using digital platforms to circulate content which called for an armed revolution of Jihad against the Indian government. She was using social media platforms to post inflammatory content and also videos on Al Qaeda.
Associated Press: Musk, a social media powerhouse, boosts fortunes of hard-right figures in Europe
Hard-right commentators, politicians and activists in Europe have uncovered a secret to expanding their influence: engaging with Elon Musk. Take the German politician from a party whose own domestic intelligence agency has designated as extremist. Her daily audience on X surged from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days Musk interacted with her posts. She went on to lead her party to its best-ever electoral showing.
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