Associated Press: Israel And Hamas Signal Resistance To Ending Gaza War After Sinwar’s Death
“Hamas confirmed Friday that its leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and reiterated its stance that hostages the militant group took from Israel a year ago will not be released until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops. The group’s staunch position pushed back against a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin a day earlier that his country’s military will keep fighting until the hostages are released and will remain in Gaza to prevent a severely weakened Hamas from rearming. The conflicting stands signal continued deep resistance on both sides to ending the war, even as President Joe Biden and other world leaders press the case that Sinwar’s death is a turning point that should be used to unlock stalled cease-fire negotiations. The standoff comes as Israel’s war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah — a Hamas ally backed by Iran — has intensified in recent weeks. Hezbollah said Friday it planned to launch a new phase of fighting by sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel.”
Associated Press: Clashes Break Out At Protests Over Arrested Activists In Southern Iraq
“Hundreds of protesters gathered Friday in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah demanding the release of activists arrested over earlier demonstrations, with clashes breaking out between protesters and security forces. The city in the southern province of Dhi Qar has frequently been a flashpoint of anti-government discontent. The renewed protests come five years after the outbreak of mass anti-government protests in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces calling for reforms. Protesters Friday called for the release of a group of detained activists who had participated in the October 2019 demonstrations as well as in more recent protests, saying that the legal cases against them were “retaliatory.” They called for the local police chief to step down. The gathering was attended by a number of Iraqi legislators who support the protest movement. Security forces tried to disperse the protesters using smoke bombs, and all roads leading to Al-Haboubi Square were blocked with barbed wire.”
FOCUS: Sinwar’s Death Offers Netanyahu A Great Opportunity – But The Window Of Opportunity Is Small
“The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could have a decisive influence on the conflict in the Gaza Strip - but only for a short time. Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler examines the consequences and opportunities that now arise for Israel and the region. The Israeli government has now confirmed that DNA analysis has confirmed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar had only taken over leadership of the entire organization in August following the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at the end of July. With this military operation, Israel succeeded in eliminating the entire top leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
“When Israeli forces examined Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's body after killing him in a surprise ground operation on Thursday, they discovered several curious items, including grenades, an assault rifle, nearly $11,000 in cash, and a passport belonging to an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Those items, experts told the Washington Free Beacon, suggest Sinwar may have been attempting to flee the embattled Gaza Strip when Israeli forces stumbled upon him inside a house in the territory's Rafah neighborhood, Hamas's stronghold along the border with Egypt. While it is unclear exactly what Sinwar was up to in that home, the documents in his possession hint at an escape plan.”
“Iraq’s commission governing media announced Saturday that it would take steps to revoke the license of a Saudi television station to operate in the country. That came hours after dozens of supporters of Iraqi militias stormed and looted the office of the broadcaster, MBC, in Baghdad in protest over a report that described a number of Iranian-linked militant figures — including a prominent Iraqi militia leader — as “terrorists.” The report on “terrorists” who had been killed this century mentioned former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden alongside a roster of Iran-backed figures. They included Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who was the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitaries and founder of the Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades.”
NBC: ISIS-K Threat Grows As It Targets Disaffected Muslims With Sophisticated Propaganda
“The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has ramped up its recruitment efforts in the past year, American officials and analysts say, rolling out a sophisticated propaganda campaign designed to persuade disaffected Muslims to carry out terrorist plots in the U.S. and other Western countries. The recent arrest of an Afghan accused of plotting an Election Day attack in the U.S., as well as recent plots in France, Sweden and elsewhere, highlight the growing threat posed by ISIS-K, officials and counterterrorism experts say. Seeking to rally support and recruit from a range of Muslim diaspora communities in Europe and the U.S., the group has churned out a high volume of videos and articles in more than a dozen languages, including Dari and Pashto, the two primary languages spoken in Afghanistan.”
Reuters: US Envoy To Hold Ceasefire Talks In Lebanon; Israel Targets Hezbollah's Finances
“U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein held talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut on Monday on conditions for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah after Israel struck branches across Lebanon of a financial institution linked to the group. Diplomacy has failed to cool down Israel's raging conflicts with its two most dangerous and heavily armed regional militia foes - Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip - which are grinding into a second year. Washington is hoping for a new push for peace in the Middle East following Israel's killing last week of Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas and architect of the attacks on Israeli towns last year that precipitated Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. U.S. officials are seeking to broker a truce in Lebanon, where Israel launched a ground campaign over the past month. It has killed most of the senior leadership of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed movement which says it is fighting Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.”
Reuters: Gaza Health Ministry Says 87 Killed In Northern Gaza Airstrike
“A total of 87 people were killed or missing under the rubble after an Israeli attack on Saturday on northern Gaza's town of Beit Lahiya, with more than 40 wounded, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Sunday. The Israeli military has said it was investigating reports of the incident, which left one of the highest casualty tolls in months. Earlier, it said a total of 73 reported by the Hamas media office appeared exaggerated given the nature of the munitions used in the strike, which it said hit a Hamas target. Gaza's health ministry said rescue operations were being hindered by communications problems and by the Israeli military operation still going on around the area, close to the border line with Israel, the ministry said. "Victims are still under the rubble and on the road and ambulance teams and civil emergency can't reach them," it said in a statement.”
Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Israel Apologizes For Strike That Killed 3 Lebanese Soldiers
“The Israeli military apologized Monday for a strike that killed three Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon, saying it is not battling the country’s military and its troops believed they were targeting a vehicle belonging to the Hezbollah militant group. Israeli strikes meanwhile hit nearly a dozen branches of a Hezbollah-run financial institution that Israel says is used to fund attacks but where many ordinary people keep their savings. Last week, Hezbollah said it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, as the region reckoned with the killing of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a battle with Israeli forces in Gaza. Sinwar was a chief architect of the attack on southern Israel that precipitated the latest escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group.”
Voice Of America: Somalia Military Strikes Major Blow To Al-Shabab, Kills 30 Militants
“Somalia's Information Ministry said Saturday the country's military is targeting al-Shabab militants in the Galmudug region of central Somalia and is making progress in eroding the group's operational effectiveness. In a coordinated military operation, the Somali National Army, or SNA, supported by Galmudug State forces and pro-government local clan militias, killed 30 al-Shabab militants and injured dozens more, according to a government statement released Saturday. "The Somali National Army killed 30 al-Shabab militants and injured 40 others after conducting an operation at the Qeycad location in the southern Mudug region for the past 48 hours," the statement reads. Somali authorities say the operation was conducted after the army received intelligence regarding al-Shabab militants' maneuvers in the region.”
“German authorities said Sunday that they have arrested a Libyan national with suspected ties to the extremist Islamic State group who was allegedly planning a firearms attack on the Israeli Embassy. Police and other security forces detained the man on Saturday evening in Bernau, a town just outside of Berlin, and searched his home there, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. The prosecutor’s office said the suspect was a Libyan national whom they identified only as Omar A. “He intended to carry out a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin,” the statement said. In his planning, the statement added, “the accused exchanged information with a member of IS in a messenger chat.” Security forces also searched the home of another person who is considered a witness and not a suspect, the prosecutor’s statement said.”
Reuters: Militants Kill Seven, Including Six Migrant Workers, In India's Kashmir
“At least six migrant workers and a doctor were shot dead in India's Kashmir region on Sunday night when militants opened fire near a tunnel construction site, officials said, days after a new government was formed in the territory. An opposition alliance took power in the region this month after winning the first polls in a decade, and the first since its special status was revoked and it was split into two federally administered territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The victims of Sunday's attack were involved in the construction of tunnels meant to provide all-weather connectivity to the militarily strategic Ladakh region, which shares a border with China and Pakistan. "At least two armed militants barged into the mess of the private construction company and fired at workers who were dining," said a senior police officer who did not want to be named. Six workers and a doctor working for the company were killed and five other people were injured in the attack, he said.”
“After the FBI arrested an Afghan man in Oklahoma planning an election day shooting on behalf of the Islamic State, the terrorist organization re-entered what has become one of the most chaotic news cycles leading up to a November vote. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City admitted to investigators he and a co-conspirator expected to die as IS martyrs as they opened fire on crowds on election day, according to charging documents. Warnings about IS-sponsored or -inspired attacks in the west have intensified in recent weeks. In a statement on the Tawhedi case, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, remarked there was a continuing need to “combat the ongoing threat that [IS] and its supporters pose to America’s national security”. Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the UK’s domestic intelligence service, described how his agency had “one hell of a job” managing the threat of the resurgent terrorist organization.”
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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