Israel is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to global terrorism. In the 1990s, after the Oslo Accords, when Palestinians resorted to suicide bombings, the world largely ignored them, blamed Israel, and failed to see these attacks as an ominous portent. Just a few years later, the …
Read More »Qatar Not an Honest Broker, New Report Concludes
Latest Developments A group of veteran American and Israeli intelligence professionals assert in a new report that Qatar should not mediate between Hamas and Israel, The Times of Israel revealed on April 8. The report, which draws on English, Arabic, and French sources, concludes that Qatar is “not an independent …
Read More »ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency in March 2024
ISIS carried out at least 69 confirmed attacks in March in the Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Raqqa, and Deir Ez Zor governorates. These attacks killed at least 84 pro-Assad regime soldiers and 44 civilians and wounded at least 51 more soldiers and civilians. There were also 19 high quality* attacks during …
Read More »US on high alert for Iran threat in region after Israeli strike in Syria
The United States is on high alert and preparing for a possible attack by Iran targeting Israeli or American assets in the region in response to Israel’s strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria, a U.S. official said on Friday. “We’re definitely at a high state of vigilance,” the official …
Read More »Notorious Iraqi extremist killed in suicide bombing in Syria
A notorious Iraqi extremist leader was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria’s rebel-held north-west, it was revealed on Friday. Abu Maria Al Qahtani was killed in an attack by an ISIS fighter using an explosive belt, said former Al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which rules Syria’s last …
Read More »Report: 20 killed in clashes in Syria’s restive Daraa province
At least 20 people were killed in clashes Sunday in Syria’s Daraa governate a day after an explosion killed a group of children, a rights monitor said. Daraa was the cradle of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad but it returned to government control in 2018 under a cease-fire …
Read More »Worrying signs exist that IS growing stronger in Syria
Slowly but surely, the Islamic State terror group seems to be regaining its footing in Syria, launching new and brazen attacks against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Just-released data from U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces across the Middle East and South Asia, puts the number of …
Read More »CEP Report: Central Syria’s ISIS Insurgency In 2023
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) released a report today detailing ISIS activity in central Syria in 2023 showing that ISIS attacks, high quality attacks, and civilian and military casualties rose dramatically last year—and were often more aggressive than in recent years. The 215 ISIS attacks chronicled by CEP often utilized …
Read More »The war in Gaza has been ongoing for exactly six months: Is an end in sight?
The war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement, which has been ongoing for six months and has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, shows no signs of ending, according to the German news agency dpa. Negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages …
Read More »What’s happening: Israel has withdrawn most of its troops from the southern Gaza Strip, leaving only one brigade behind
The Israeli army has withdrawn all its ground forces from the southern Gaza Strip except for one brigade, said an army spokesman. The army did not immediately provide further details. It is unclear whether the withdrawal will postpone the entry of the army into the city of Rafah in southern …
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