The Washington Post: Dispute Over Disarming Hamas Bedevils Efforts To Extend Gaza Ceasefire
“For six weeks, the hard-won ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas survived fraught hostage exchanges, disputes over alleged deal violations — and the shock of President Donald Trump’s unexpected proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza and take control of the Strip. And yet, the fragile truce may now be entering an even more precarious juncture. With time running out on the first, 42-day phase of the deal, set to expire Saturday, Israel and Hamas, along with the Trump administration and Arab government mediators, appear far from reaching an agreement to proceed to the second, decisive phase of the ceasefire, which would involve the release of all living Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent end to the war.”
Associated Press: Syria’s National Dialogue Conference Held As The Battered Country Seeks To Rebuild
“Syria’s new rulers held a long-awaited national dialogue conference Tuesday, which they touted as as a “rare historical opportunity” to rebuild the country after the fall of former President Bashar Assad and nearly 14 years of civil war. About 600 people from across Syria were invited to the gathering in the presidential palace in Damascus, hosted by the new authorities led by the Islamist former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The group led the offensive that ousted Assad in December. “Just as Syria has liberated itself by itself, it is appropriate for it to build itself by itself,” interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa told the conference.”
Express: Hamas' Six Biggest Supporters Revealed As 61 Hostages Remain In Gaza
“Hamas' six biggest allies have been identified in a new study as the group continues to benefit from a "well-established international support system". A bombshell new report by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), shown exclusively to the Express before its publication, claimed the countries as "largely responsible" for Hamas' survival. The findings, titled "Friends and Enablers of Hamas: State Actors", also identified the four different types of allyship Hamas is receiving. The six countries are: Iran, Qatar, Turkey, North Korea, Russia, and China. Iran, Qatar, and Turkey were identified as "the most explicit and vocal state supporters of Hamas" as they all provide aid in terms of finances, diplomacy, and ideology. Iran also gives Hamas significant military aid.”
The Baltimore Sun: Evil Hides In Plain Sight. It’s Our Job To Stop It.
“Vice President JD Vance recently visited the Dachau concentration camp, and it’s clear he got the right message. After touring the camp with 97-year-old survivor Abba Naor, Vance said: “I’ve read a lot about the Holocaust in books, but being here and seeing it up close in person really drives home what unspeakable evil was committed … It’s very important that those of us who are lucky enough to be alive can walk around, can know what happened here, and commit ourselves to prevent it from happening again.” In line with Vance’s goal of preventing hate from spreading and devolving into extraordinary evil, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) — a nonprofit aimed at combating extremist groups — recently purchased House 88, home of the infamous Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his family, which sits just beyond the walls of the Auschwitz extermination camp in Poland. The number 88 was code for Heil Hitler — the letter “H” is the 8th letter of the alphabet.”
“The detonation in Tel Aviv could be heard for miles. On Friday night, bombs exploded in three empty buses in the towns of Holon and Bat Yam… Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the international Counter Extremism Project, sees a direct connection between Israel's military actions in the West Bank and the situation in the Gaza Strip. "Although there is still no clear strategy for the long-term administration of the Gaza Strip, it is nevertheless clear that Hamas will be weakened at least in the short to medium term," he told the Tagesspiegel. Therefore, from Israel's point of view, it is important to prevent "a strengthening of terrorist structures in the West Bank. As the recent attacks in Tel Aviv have demonstrated, this is still within the realm of possibility."”
Islander News: International Anti-Hate Initiative Launches With South Florida Support
“On January 27, 2025, the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of notorious death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, The Counter Extremism Project, a transnational, non-partisan, non-profit organization that has been successfully fighting extremism since its founding in 2014, announced the creation of The Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization: ARCHER) at House 88. House 88 is the site of the residence of Commandant of the Auschwitz from 1940-44, Rudolf Höss and his family. It sits a few meters from the camp wall and across from Auschwitz’s original gas chamber and crematorium.”
Dezeen: Daniel Libeskind To Transform Former Auschwitz Commandant's House Into Anti-Extremism Centre
“Non-profit organisation Counter Extremism Project has announced that Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind will design the ARCHER at House 88 learning centre in the former home of an Auschwitz commandant. Located next to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and former concentration and extermination camps in Oświęcim, Poland, the house will be transformed with the aim of honouring the memory of the site's victims. The building, numbered 88 and 88a, will contain exhibition spaces and facilities for the Auschwitz Center on Hate, Extremism, and Radicalization (ARCHER), lending its name ARCHER at House 88.”
“Experts have warned that Scottish children are being 'brainwashed' by the far right on the world's most popular children's video game. Concerns have been raised that neo-Nazis are exposing young people to vile propaganda on Minecraft with the aim of radicalising them. Fascists are said to be using the game's open-ended tools that allows users to build worlds to characters to flowers to make avatars that resemble Adolf Hitler, KKK members, perpetrators of mass shootings and even Jews being burnt alive at concentration camps. Senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project, Ian Acheson, warned that video games were the "perfect way to recruit kids" due to how "easy" it was to disguise interactions that were "seamless and social".”
“Texas ranchers working near the southern border have been urged to exercise extreme caution when traveling through Mexico after one of their own was killed earlier this month by an improvised explosive device (IED). Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, a Texas rancher who worked on both sides of the border, was driving near his ranch in Tamaulipas, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, when he was killed by an IED, KRGV-TV reported. Also killed was Horacio Lopez Peña. Ninfa Griselda Ortega, Lopez's wife, was hospitalized with injuries. In a statement, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the deadly explosion was part of a "growing threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border.””
Fox News: Maine’s Girl Athletes Paying The Price For Extremism Of State Politicians
“Maine’s education officials have reached a new level of absurdity by defying President Trump’s executive order banning biological male athletes from women’s sports. By decreeing that public schools should ignore new federal guidelines and instead follow the Maine Human Rights Act, the Maine Principals’ Association has placed the Left’s woke agenda above the welfare of our students and the dignity of our female athletes. They have undermined fair competition and blatantly violated federal guidelines meant to restore sanity, safety and fairness across the country. And now, Maine students may pay the price for it.”
“Israel and the United States have responded with silence to claims by Hezbollah that the two allies secretly threatened Lebanon this month into stopping the arrivals of Iranian commercial airliners delivering cash to the Lebanese terror group. The silence of the Israeli and U.S. governments on Hezbollah's allegations is typical of their low-key approaches to dealing with some regional security problems, according to U.S. and Israeli researchers who spoke to VOA in recent days. The researchers also say Lebanon's indefinite suspension of landing rights for Iranian airlines, in effect since Feb. 13, will make it harder but not impossible for Iran to airlift cash to Hezbollah, its main regional proxy force.”
Voice Of America: VOA Kurdish: US Increases Airstrikes Against Al-Qaida Affiliate In Syria
“The United States Central Command has carried out several operations in Idlib province in northwest Syria since the beginning of this year, targeting several members and leaders of the al Qaida-linked Hurras al-Din (HaD) organization.”
The New York Times: Talks On Syria’s Future Fall Short Of Promises, Participants Say
“It was billed as the first step in establishing a representative government as Syria emerged from decades of a brutal, one-family dictatorship. But for some in Syria, the highly anticipated “national dialogue” that ended on Tuesday night fell far short of those promises. Instead, the two-day conference only added to concerns about the openness of the country’s new Islamist rulers to setting up a genuinely inclusive political process. “We have a lot of objections to how this happened,” said Ibrahim Draji, a law professor at Damascus University who was among the hundreds of attendees at the conference. “There’s no transparency. There is no clear criteria for who gets invited,” he added.”
Reuters: Exclusive: U.S. Sanctions Hold Up Qatari Support For Syria, Sources Say
“Qatar is holding off providing Syria's new rulers with funds to increase public sector pay due to uncertainty over whether the transfers would breach U.S. sanctions, four sources said, a setback to efforts to revive the war-stricken economy. The delay in Qatar's plan to help pay for the increase, which Reuters reported in January, underlines the considerable challenges Syria's new Islamist authorities face as they seek to stabilise the fractured state and assure foreign powers about their leadership. While the previous U.S. administration issued a sanctions exemption on January 6 to allow transactions with Syria's governing institutions for six months, Qatar does not see this as enough to cover payments it would need to make via the central bank to finance the salary increase, the sources said.”
The Guardian: Taliban Says ‘Misunderstanding’ Led To Arrest Of British Couple In Afghanistan
“A British couple were arrested in Afghanistan due to a “misunderstanding” that they had fake Afghan passports, the Taliban said on Tuesday. Peter and Barbie Reynolds, 79 and 75, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February while returning to their home in the central province of Bamiyan. The couple, who run education and training programmes in Afghanistan, were arrested along with Faye Hall, a Chinese-American friend and an interpreter from their business. Taliban spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani said the arrests were due to a “misunderstanding” that they possessed fake Afghan passports.”
Associated Press: Graffiti Left By Israeli Soldiers Turn South Lebanon Homes Into A Canvas Of War
“Residents of southern Lebanon have been gradually returning to their villages to find their homes heavily damaged by the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. As they scour what remains, they are discovering that the battle-scarred walls of their houses served as a canvas for Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah supporters that tell the story of the war. The scrawled messages give insight into the battles that erupted after Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon in October 2024, months after Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
The New York Times: Israel And Hamas Will Move Forward With Another Swap
“Hamas has agreed to release the remains of four Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli officials and the group said, resolving a dayslong impasse between the two sides. The agreement comes as the first phase of a fragile cease-fire deal draws to a close. Negotiators have yet to reach terms to extend the deal into a more comprehensive truce, raising concerns that the fighting in Gaza could resume. During the first phase, Hamas had agreed to free 25 Israeli hostages and hand over the bodies of eight more in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel. On Saturday, Hamas released the last living captives set to be freed in the first phase, and Israel was supposed to release 620 Palestinian prisoners in return.”
“At least six infants have died from hypothermia in the last two weeks in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in tent camps and war-damaged buildings during a fragile ceasefire, Palestinian medics said Tuesday. The coastal territory experiences cold, wet winters, with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) at night and storms blowing in from the Mediterranean Sea. The last few days have been especially cold. Yusuf al-Shinbari woke up in his family’s tent just after midnight on Tuesday to find that his 2-month-old daughter, Sham, was cold to the touch. He could feel no heartbeat.”
Voice Of America: AU, Somalia Agree On Troop Numbers For New Mission
“The federal government of Somalia and the African Union have agreed on the number of troop-contributing countries for a new AU mission following weeks of differences between Ethiopia and Somalia, and later on between Somalia and Burundi over the number of troops coming from each country. An AU official, who requested anonymity because he does not have authorization to speak with media, told VOA that Burundian forces who have been in Somalia since 2007 will be leaving the country after the two governments disagreed on the number of troops coming from Burundi. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, is expected to have 11,900 personnel operating on the ground in Somalia, including soldiers, police and civilian support staff, according to Somali and AU officials.”
Reuters: Slovak Investigators Seek Terrorism Charges Against Man Who Shot PM Fico
“Investigators have called for terrorism charges to be brought against a man suspected of attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the country's general prosecutor said on Wednesday, after the completion of their probe. The suspect, who was 71 at the time of the incident last May, shot Fico four times at close range in the abdomen, leaving him in a critical condition. Fico, 60, four-times prime minister, later recovered and returned to work months later. The attacker, identified by prosecutors as Juraj C., has said he aimed to hurt, not kill Fico, and disagreed with his policies, court documents show.”
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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