Axios: Exclusive: U.S. holding secret talks with Hamas
The Trump administration has been holding direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. hostages held in Gaza and the possibility of a broader deal to end the war, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios. Why it matters: The talks — held by U.S. presidential envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler — are unprecedented. The U.S. had never before engaged directly with Hamas, which it designated a terrorist organization in 1997. Behind the scenes: The meetings between Boehler and Hamas officials took place in Doha in recent weeks. While the Trump administration consulted with Israel about the possibility of engaging with Hamas, Israel learned about aspects of the talks through other channels, one source said. The sources spoke with Axios on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the sensitive meetings.
New York Times: Afghan Charged in 2021 Kabul Attack That Killed 13 U.S. Service Members
The F.B.I. arrested an Afghan national charged with playing a role in the deadly 2021 attack on U.S. service members as they carried out a tumultuous evacuation of civilians at Afghanistan’s main airport, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The man, Mohammad Sharifullah, is accused of helping a suicide bomber approach the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that August without being detected. The horrific attack killed 13 U.S. military service members and injured approximately 160 civilians. Mr. Sharifullah was flown back to the United States early Wednesday and charged with violating terrorism statutes. He appeared later that day in federal court in Alexandria, Va., and a preliminary hearing was set for March 10. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison.
WTOP News: The Hunt: Mysterious bus explosions in Tel Aviv send ominous message to the West
In this week’s episode of The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, explained how it happened and what it means.
Associated Press: Minneapolis man charged with trying to join the Islamic State group
A Minneapolis man who allegedly expressed admiration for the truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people has been accused of trying to join the Islamic State group, federal prosecutors announced Friday. Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, 22, made his first court appearance on a charge of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was ordered held without bail until a detention hearing March 5. The chief federal defender for Minnesota, Katherian Roe, said her office will represent him but declined to comment on the case. The criminal complaint against Hassan, a naturalized U.S. citizen, alleges that he tried twice in December to travel from Minnesota to Somalia to join the group but did not succeed. It says he claimed he was going to visit family but had none there. Prosecutors said the FBI’s investigation established that Hassan expressed public support for the group in multiple posts on social media and also praised Shamsud-Din Jabbar on TikTok over the New Orleans attack.
Deutsche Welle: 'Tsunami of antisemitism' on German campuses, report finds
The German Union of Jewish Students (JSUD) and the American Jewish Committee Berlin (AJC) presented a "Situation Report on Antisemitism at German Universities." Outgoing JSUD president Hanna Veiler, 27, spoke of a "tsunami of antisemitism" in the university environment, outlining a chronology of incidents including the brutal attack on Shapira, along with numerous university occupations and "so-called pro-Palestinian protest camps" where people have called for Israel to be wiped off the map. The new report is important because a "really central challenge" for the JSUD has been that there is little research on antisemitism at universities, she said. A such, the 26-page report does not contain any newly collected figures. The authors used statistics from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS). According to the report, the number of antisemitic incidents involving universities rose from 16 in 2021 and 23 in 2022, to 151 in 2023.
Jerusalem Post: Israeli driver on Bat Yam bus bomb terrorist
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested two Jewish-Israeli suspects who were involved in transporting the terrorist that planted bombs on buses in Bat Yam. The two suspects who were arrested were charged with attempted murder. The terrorist illegally crossed over into Israeli territory and was arrested shortly after the bomb exploded. He was picked up by an Israeli citizen from a construction site in the center of the country, who drove him to a checkpoint and then to Bat Yam, where he was later arrested. An indictment will be filed against Israel on Thursday.
New York Times: With Cease-Fire Shaky, Israel and Hamas Weigh Diplomatic and Military Options
When the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced in January, Israelis and Palestinians burst into simultaneous celebrations, optimistic after 15 months of war. Now, with the first phase of the deal over on Sunday and Israel introducing an entirely new proposal that Hamas has already rejected, concern is rising that the fighting that reduced Gaza to rubble, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and threatened the lives of hostages could resume. As the cease-fire teeters, both Hamas and Israel are pursuing two paths, one diplomatic and another military. On the diplomatic front, Hamas is insisting on the implementation of the second phase of the original agreement, which calls for an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of more hostages and prisoners.
Reuters: Four Islamic State-affiliated militants killed in Dagestan, Russia says
Russian counter-terrorism forces killed four militants affiliated with the Islamic State jihadi group who were plotting an attack in the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan, Russian security services said on Wednesday. Intelligence services have been alarmed by an upswing in militant Islamist activity and plots in Russia and Central Asia from where thousands travelled to join jihadi groups fighting in the Syrian civil war. Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow which left at least 145 people dead, and there have been a number of Islamic State-linked plots foiled in the Muslim regions of southern Russia and in the former Soviet republic of Central Asia. Russian security services said the militants in Dagestan had been plotting to attack a regional branch of the interior ministry. "Grenade launchers, improvised explosive devices, grenades, machine guns, a pistol and ammunition for them were found at the site of the clash and in a nearby cache," said Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee.
Reuters: UK asks social media firms to assess online risks by March 31
Britain's media regulator Ofcom on Monday set social media and other online platforms a March 31 deadline to submit a risk assessment around how likely users are to encounter illegal content on their sites. New laws passed last year require companies like Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Facebook and Instagram and ByteDance's TikTok to take action against criminal activity on their platforms and make them safer. Under the Online Safety Act, firms have to assess and mitigate the risks of a wide range of offences occurring on their platform, including terrorism, hate crime, child sexual exploitation and financial fraud. "Specifically, they must determine how likely it is that users could encounter illegal content on their service, or, in the case of user-to-user services, how they could be used to commit or facilitate certain criminal offences," Ofcom said in a statement. Failure to meet the assessment deadline could result in enforcement action, Ofcom said.
BBC: 'Right-wing extremists' planned terrorism - trial
Three men who believed a race war was imminent were planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues, a trial has heard. Christopher Ringrose, 34, from Staffordshire, Marco Pitzettu, 25, from Derbyshire, and Brogan Stewart, 25, from West Yorkshire, were "right-wing extremists" preparing to use firearms, explosives and bladed weapons in attacks, a Sheffield Crown Court jury was told on Wednesday.
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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