The New York Times: Israel And Hamas Make 6th Exchange, Keeping Cease-Fire Intact For Now
“Hamas freed three more Israeli hostages on Saturday as Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, prolonging a fragile cease-fire in the Gaza Strip that appeared to be teetering only days ago. The hostages — Alexander Troufanov, 29, known as Sasha; Iair Horn, 46; and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, one of the few Americans still held in Gaza — were noticeably thinner and paler after spending 16 months in captivity. They had been abducted from the Israeli border village of Nir Oz during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the war in Gaza. But they did not appear as emaciated as the three hostages released last Saturday, whose condition prompted outrage and horror in Israel.”
Voice Of America: Intelligence Agencies Close In On Islamic State Caliph
“A growing number of countries think they have unmasked the man running the Islamic State terror group’s global operations. A report issued this week by the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Team, based on U.N. member state intelligence, said there is “growing confidence” that the IS caliph is Abdul Qadir Mumin, who also heads the terror group’s branch in Somalia. The importance of Mumin to IS’s global operations has not been in doubt. Previous U.N. intelligence reports suggested he had been elevated to lead the Islamic State's general directorate of provinces, essentially giving him control over the group’s African affiliates.”
“... The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) announced last week that the building known as “House 88,” which once served as the residence of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and which literally overlooked the Auschwitz extermination camp, will become the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism, and Radicalization (ARCHER). The initiative launches as antisemitism surges globally, with recent Anti-Defamation League data showing a dramatic rise in antisemitic attitudes worldwide over the past decade.”
“... Six suspected extremist-motivated attacks in one year. “That is far too many,” says terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler at IPPEN.MEDIA . Germany has a security problem. After the car attack in Munich, the political debate about deportations has escalated again. But focusing solely on that is not enough, in Schindler's view. He formulates a total of three adjustment screws: Migration, empowerment of the security services, and responsibility of social media.”
Focus Online: Terrorism Expert Warns: Urgent Need For Reform To Stop Radicalization
“... The Munich attack once again shows the increased threat of terrorism in Germany. Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler explains why reforms in the regulation of social media, the legal basis of security and police services and the management of migration are urgently needed. Once again, a terrorist attack has shaken Germany. Since the knife attack in Solingen in May 2024, this is the sixth terrorist attack in ten months and, together with the attack in Magdeburg in December 2024, the second terrorist attack in which a vehicle was used as a means of committing the crime. There is currently very little concrete information available about the perpetrator in Munich.”
BR24: "Salad Bar Ideology": How Islamists Radicalize Themselves Online
“After the attacks in Munich and Villach, the authorities are investigating the perpetrators' Internet accounts. There are indications of Islamist motives. Extremists have long been radicalizing themselves on the Internet and developing their own ideology from fragments… Experts have been pointing out for years that more and more people are becoming radicalized online . "In the past, if someone became radicalized by Islam, they would go to backyard mosques, prayer groups or attend some kind of secret extremist meeting. That's no longer necessary today. You can become radicalized online and don't really need a social environment anymore," says Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project.”
“Berlin – Several attacks within a few months : That can definitely change a society. The attacks in Solingen, Mannheim, Aschaffenburg, Magdeburg and most recently in Munich were probably motivated by extremism, the majority of them probably Islamist. In several cases, asylum seekers were the perpetrators, including the car attack in Munich in which a mother and her two-year-old child were killed and dozens of people were injured, some seriously… Hans-Jakob Schindler is aware of the theory of Russian agents in Afghanistan. "That is entirely possible, we had corresponding indications," said the director of the NGO Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in an interview with this editorial team. However, this cannot currently be proven, said the terrorism expert.”
“He "stepped on the gas and then drove into the back of the gathering," said Munich Police Vice President Christian Huber, describing the attack on a group of demonstrators in Munich on Thursday morning (February 13). A 24-year-old Afghan drove his car into the crowd. At least 36 people were injured, some seriously, including a two-year-old child . On Friday, investigators assumed that the driver's motive was Islamist… "The incident in Munich is a classic attack scenario and every successful attack motivates other people to carry out such attacks," says terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project BuzzFeed News Germany . "Cars were used at Christmas in Magdeburg and on New Year's Day in New Orleans. So it is not totally surprising that another attack has been attempted using a car."”
T-Online: "A Winning Narrative Has Developed"
“Shortly after the attack on a Verdi demonstration in Munich, much is still unclear. The suspect has been arrested, however, and there are already initial findings on him that point to terrorism. Several people's lives are in danger. It is the third attack in Germany within just two months. After Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg, the debate about security precautions and deportations is flaring up again - because the perpetrator was an asylum seeker from Afghanistan . In an interview with t-online, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler also sees major shortcomings in security and contradicts Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.”
Tagesspiegel: Six Attacks In Ten Months, “Islamists Are Particularly Motivated At The Moment”
“It was the sixth apparently extremist-motivated attack in just over ten months: on Thursday morning in Munich, an Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a demonstration by the Verdi trade union. According to police, at least 36 people were injured, some of them seriously, including a child. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) spoke of a "serious attack"... "This is not just a perceived increase, but a fact," Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank for extremism research, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. "Six attacks in around ten months - I have never experienced anything like this in my entire career." Terrorism expert Schindler believes that such connections are absurd, he says. Rather, he says that several factors are coming together. On the one hand, says Schindler, the Islamists currently see themselves as the winners and are particularly motivated: "In their logic, they drove the Americans out of Afghanistan and threw Russia and Iran out of Syria," says Schindler. "They think that nobody can harm them."”
Stern: "If A Person Becomes Radicalized, The Algorithm Provides Technical Assistance"
“How can we prevent what happened in Munich this week in the future? In an interview, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler makes three demands. Mr. Schindler, Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg - and now an attack in Munich... Hans-Jakob Schindler: You're forgetting the attack in Munich in September 2024, when the Islamist shot at the consulate in Munich and the Nazi Documentation Center with a rifle. Munich has been affected for the second time now. That's six attacks in ten months. That's pretty serious.”
The Washington Post: Trump’s Global Funding Freeze Leaves Anti-Terror Programs In Limbo
“resident Donald Trump’s sweeping freeze on U.S. foreign assistance has threatened programs intended to counter al-Shabab bombmakers, contain the spread of al-Qaeda across West Africa and secure Islamic State prisoners in the Middle East, according to U.S. officials and aid workers. Hours after taking office last month, Trump put a 90-day pause on foreign aid programs, signing an executive order that said the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests” and “serve to destabilize world peace.””
The Guardian: JD Vance Decried As Extremist Over Attack On UK Abortion Clinic Safe Zones
“JD Vance has been labelled an “extremist” after he launched a broadside against the UK’s efforts to protect women seeking an abortion. The US vice-president’s criticisms of UK and Scottish policies on safe access zones around abortion clinics – part of a wide-ranging tirade against Europe on Friday – were derided as inaccurate and misogynistic by a number of groups, politicians and governments. Heidi Stewart, the chief executive of Bpas, the UK’s leading provider of abortion services, said safe zones – buffer areas of 150 metres around abortion clinics designed to stop women being harassed with leaflets, shown pictures of foetuses, or having to pass by vigils – were vital to protect women’s access to essential healthcare in an “overwhelmingly pro-choice country”.”
“President Donald Trump congratulated U.S. forces following an airstrike over the weekend that targeted an official of Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria. "US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region." "Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners," he continued. On Saturday, U.S. forces "conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate," U.S. Central Command said in a press release.”
The Guardian: Mexico Threatens To Escalate US Gunmakers Lawsuit With Terror Charges
“Mexico’s president has warned US gunmakers they could face fresh legal action as accomplices of organized crime if Washington designates the country’s cartels as terrorist groups. The Latin American country, which is under mounting pressure from Donald Trump to curb illegal drug smuggling, wants its neighbor to crack down on firearms trafficking in the other direction. “If they declare these criminal groups as terrorists, then we’ll have to expand our US lawsuit,” Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said at a daily press conference. A new charge could include alleged complicity of gunmakers with terror groups, she said.”
Voice Of America: VOA Kurdish: ISIS Families In Syria Camp Emboldened By New Regime
“About 40,000 individuals, primarily the wives, female relatives and children of male Islamic State suspects, are held in the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria. According to camp authorities, these Islamic State relatives have been celebrating the regime change in Syria, hoping it will lead to a Sunni Islamic system. Camp guards told VOA that since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, ISIS families in the camp have been attempting to escape but are being stopped.”
Bloomberg: Arab Global Initiative To Support Middle East, Focusing On Syria
“Middle East countries, the International Monetary Fund and other major global financial institutions are spearheading an unprecedented effort to help “conflict-affected” countries in the region recover, with a focus on Syria. The Saudi finance ministry and the IMF co-hosted a meeting on Sunday that brought together regional finance chiefs, the Syrian foreign minister, The World Bank and the Arab Coordination Group. Participants agreed on assessing humanitarian and reconstruction needs as well as mobilizing international aid to fund reform programs, according to a joint statement by the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan.”
“Security forces in Syria said on Monday that they arrested three people involved in the execution of hundreds of civilians by government forces in Damascus in 2013, two years after the country’s 13-year civil war began. Dozens of police and security trucks lined the streets of Tadamon, a Damascus suburb near the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, where they carried out the arrests in the same streets that once bore witness to mass executions. Masked, rifle-wielding men moved through hollowed-out buildings, remnants of a war that turned the district into a front line between government forces and opposition fighters. In 2022, a leaked video dated April 16, 2013, appeared to contain harrowing footage of the executions.”
“A Turkish opposition party delegation arrived in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region Sunday against the backdrop of peace efforts between Ankara and a banned Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey. The delegation led by Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, two senior officials with the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, in Turkey, met with Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party — the dominant Kurdish party in Iraq — in Irbil Sunday. Barzani’s office said in a statement that they discussed “the peace process in Turkey” and that the Turkish delegation conveyed a message from Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of Turkey’s banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.”
“Turkey’s foreign minister said Saturday his country would reconsider its military presence in northeastern Syria if that country’s new leaders eliminate a Kurdish militant group designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Hakan Fidan spoke at the Munich Security Conference alongside Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, who did not comment on the remarks. Fidan has expressed such sentiments before. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an insurgency against Turkey for decades, seeking greater autonomy for Kurds. “We can’t tolerate armed militia in any form,” Fidan said. He said such groups should be integrated “under one national army” in Syria and noted that its new leaders have been responsive to that idea.””
Voice Of America: Turkish Police Detain 282 Suspects In Raids Targeting PKK Militants
“Turkish police detained 282 suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, militant group in raids over the last five days, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday. The raids came as Turkey continues to remove elected pro-Kurdish mayors from their posts over militant ties in a crackdown coinciding with hopes for an end to a 40-year conflict between the PKK and authorities. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is expected to make a statement on such efforts, four months after an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan urged him to call on the militants to lay down their arms. Police carried out this week's counter-terror raids in 51 provinces, as well as in the capital, Ankara, and the largest city of Istanbul, the minister said on X.”
Associated Press: Senior Afghan Taliban Officials In Japan For Talks With Japanese Officials
“Japanese officials said senior Afghan Taliban officials were in Japan for talks, as part of Tokyo’s efforts to help Afghanistan build a more inclusive political system and protect human rights. It’s their first known diplomatic trip outside the Central Asia-Middle East region since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. The unidentified Taliban senior officials were invited by grant-making organization Nippon Zaidan and were also set to talk with Japanese Foreign Ministry officials, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Monday.”
Voice Of America: Pakistan Clashes Result In 4 Dead Soldiers, 15 Militants
“Pakistan said Saturday that counterterrorism operations in two volatile northwestern districts resulted in the deaths of four soldiers, including an officer, and 15 insurgents during the ensuing clashes. A military statement said the deadly violence erupted when its forces carried out “intelligence-based” raids on militant locations in Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan. The statement identified the slain militants as “khwarij,” a term employed by the government for individuals affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a globally recognized terrorist organization. Local security sources reported that the soldier fatalities occurred during clashes in the Waziristan area.”
Associated Press: 2 People Killed When Militants Ambush Trucks With Aid For Northwestern Pakistan
“Militants in northwestern Pakistan killed a driver and a security official Monday when they ambushed a convoy of trucks carrying food, medicine and other supplies for thousands of residents trapped by sectarian violence, authorities said. It was the third such assault since January in Kurram, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where at least 130 people have died in recent months in clashes between rival Shiite and Sunni tribes. The latest attack happened when the trucks were heading to Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, police officials said. Qaiser Abbas, a doctor at a hospital in Parachinar, said a truck driver and one of the security officials escorting the convoy was killed in the attack.”
“A woman was killed and several other people wounded Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of residents attempting to return to the village of Houla in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese state-run news agency reported. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident, which comes two days before the deadline for implementation of a ceasefire agreement that ended the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in late November. It includes a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.”
Reuters: Hezbollah Condemns Attack On UN Peacekeeping Mission Convoy In Beirut
“Hezbollah on Sunday condemned an attack on a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) convoy in Beirut on Friday which the U.S. State Department has said was reportedly carried out by supporters of the militant group. UNIFIL said on Friday its outgoing deputy force commander was injured when the convoy, which was taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport, was "violently attacked". Lebanese authorities have detained more than 25 people as part of an investigation into the attack, which the U.S State Department said was carried out "reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters". In Sunday's statement, the Iran-backed militant group expressed firm rejection to any targeting of UNIFIL forces.””
“Israeli forces withdrew Tuesday from border villages in southern Lebanon under a deadline spelled out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, but stayed put in five strategic overlook locations inside Lebanon. Top Lebanese leaders denounced the continued presence of the Israel troops as an occupation and a violation of the deal, maintaining that Israel was required to make a full withdrawal by Tuesday. The troops’ presence is also a sore point with the militant Hezbollah group, which has demanded action from the authorities. Lebanese soldiers moved into the areas from where the Israeli troops pulled out and began clearing roadblocks set up by Israeli forces and checking for unexploded ordnance.”
Reuters: Hezbollah Chief Says Israel Must Fully Withdraw From Lebanon By February 18
“The head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Sunday that Israeli troops must withdraw from Lebanese territory in full by a February 18 deadline, saying it had "no pretext" to maintain a military presence in any post in southern Lebanon. Under a truce brokered by Washington in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon where they had waged a ground offensive against fighters from Iran-backed Hezbollah since early October. That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel's military requested that it keep troops in five posts in southern Lebanon, sources told Reuters last week.”
“Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the strip in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over. Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the strip’s infrastructure. Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to two Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats.”
Voice Of America: Somali Officials: US Airstrike Against Islamic State Kills 16 Militants
“U.S. airstrikes killed 16 militants affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group in northern Somalia, officials there said Monday. A spokesperson for security operations in the Puntland region, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, disclosed the death toll in an interview VOA’s Somali Service. “The strike carried out by our international security partners killed at least 16 militants including two senior members identified as the group’s bomb-makers, and a bomb factory was destroyed,” Ahmed said. He said local officials are working to verify the names and nationalities of the bomb-makers. Ahmed said that the United Arab Emirates played a role Sunday’s attack.”
Voice Of America: Sources: Wagner Mercenaries, Mali Army Accused Of Killing Civilians
“Around 20 people were killed in northern Mali on Monday when the vehicles they were traveling in came under attack, with local sources telling Agence France-Presse that Wagner mercenaries and Mali's army were responsible. A relative of the driver of one of the vehicles told AFP from the northern city of Gao that the group was bound for Algeria when the deadly attack occurred. "The driver of the first vehicle is my cousin," they said on the condition of anonymity. "They encountered a group of Wagner mercenaries and some Malian soldiers who shot at them. In the first car, everyone died. My cousin too," they said, specifying that the passengers included illegal migrants and nomads.”
NBC: Munich Car Ramming That Injured 36 Investigated As 'Islamic Extremism'
“The car ramming that injured at least 36 people in Munich on Thursday, ahead of a major security conference featuring world leaders and defense leaders, was an intentional attack and is being treated as Islamic extremism, authorities said Friday. Gabriele Tilmann, a senior public prosecutor, told a news conference in the city that the unidentified suspect admitted in a police interview that he drove into the crowd purposefully. "The reason that he gave could be summarized as a religious reason. I can't say more about it, but what he said would lead us to conclude that it was a religious motive," she said.”
The New York Times: Knife Attack Suspect In Austria Was Inspired By ISIS, Official Says
“A Syrian asylum seeker who the Austrian authorities said killed a teenager and wounded five other people in a knife attack in Villach, Austria, was inspired by the Islamic State militant group, officials said on Sunday. The man, who was detained after the attack on Saturday, had become radicalized online, said Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner. The police said they believed that the victims were chosen at random. The suspect is 23 years old, came to Austria from Syria in 2020 and was later given asylum, according to the interior ministry. The attack comes days after an Afghan citizen, who came to Germany as a child refugee, drove a car into a crowd of people at a union march in Munich, 150 miles from Villach, killing two people and wounding nearly 40.”
ABC: Police-Led Approach To Extremist Intervention Programs Risks Community Safety, Experts Say
“Experts and families are warning that the current system to intervene and rehabilitate people who have joined extremist groups is flawed, putting Australians at risk. There's concern that too much focus is put into policing and not enough into prevention. Figures obtained by Four Corners show that only six people have been referred to a federally funded intervention program via the National Security Hotline since July 2023. The hotline is the country's main tool for reporting extremists. Australia's official Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs are run by state and territory police and governments, overseen by a federal government strategy.”
The New York Times: How A Network Of Amateur Sleuths Helps Rescue Women Kidnapped By ISIS
“The investigator’s eyes dart between the two photographs. In one, a young girl, maybe 10, is wearing a colorful shirt, her hair loose. In the other, a woman, her face weathered to an indeterminate age and framed by a black hijab, stares into the camera. The first picture is among hundreds of images of young girls sent in by families desperate to find loved ones who were kidnapped years ago, when militants from the Islamic State first roared to power in Iraq and Syria. The pictures of older women come in from a variety of sources. The woman examining the photographs has become skilled at finding the telling detail that might help confirm an identity — and lead to someone’s freedom.”
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.
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