Commenting on the EU-summit deliberations on Gaza, British Middle East expert Edmund Fitton-Brown said: "That element of balance [deploring also Hamas] rescues the exercise from being completely counterproductive". The original statement on Hamas' 7 October attack said the EU "condemns [it] in the strongest possible terms", in what Fitton-Brown said was "a 10 out of 10 condemnation" in terms of diplomatic vocabulary. "I think they [EU leaders] have it about right on Syria - balancing criticism with encouragement and potential incentives," the British ex-diplomat, Fitton-Brown, said. But reading the draft summit communiqué on al-Sharaa more closely (which "strongly condemns" the sectarian violence), Fitton-Brown added: "I'm not sure the word 'strongly' is necessary."

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: Israel has restarted strikes on Gaza, the fiercest since a now-expired ceasefire came into effect in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the recent airstrikes on Gaza are, "only the beginning." Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says the strikes killed over 400 Palestinians, including many children. The IDF has ordered evacuations in eastern Gaza, while Israelis have called for protests. In Tel Aviv, the families of hostages joined thousands protesting against the Israeli strikes on Gaza - accusing Netanyahu's government of sacrificing their relatives.

"Meanwhile, Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project explained that existing EU legal frameworks are inadequate for addressing the growing problem. Schindler described Samidoun as a network that "allow[s] for the cooperation between various violent extremist milieus." He pointed to Samidoun's involvement in large-scale demonstrations after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, where "a significant number of criminal acts were committed, including, at times, serious violence against the police." He warned that the group plays a role in mobilizing both Islamist and left-wing extremist circles, contributing to the glorification of violence and antisemitism."