Reuters: US Says Response From Hamas On Ceasefire Proposal Still Awaited

“A response from Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel's ceasefire proposal that U.S. President Joe Biden revealed on Friday is still being awaited, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. "We are waiting for a response from Hamas" through the Qatari mediators, Sullivan said. CIA Director Bill Burns will be in Doha to consult with Qatari mediators on the Gaza ceasefire proposal, Sullivan added. Qatar has been mediating on Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Qatar said on Tuesday it had delivered the Israeli ceasefire proposal to Hamas that reflected a three-phase proposal presented by Biden, and that the paper was now much closer to the positions of both sides. A spokesman for Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, reiterated on Tuesday it could not agree to any deal unless Israel makes a "clear" commitment to a permanent truce and complete withdrawal from Gaza.”

Associated Press: Gunman Captured After Shootout Outside US Embassy In Lebanon

“A gunman was shot and captured by Lebanese soldiers after a shootout outside the U.S. Embassy outside Beirut on Wednesday morning, the military said. The attack took place as tensions continued to simmer in the tiny Mediterranean country, where months of fighting between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops has displaced thousands along the border, following years of political deadlock and economic hardship. The Lebanese military in a statement said that soldiers shot an assailant, who they only described as a Syrian national. The gunman was wounded and taken to a hospital. The shooter’s motives were not clear. However, Lebanese media have published photos that appear to show a bloodied attacker wearing a black vest with the words “Islamic State” written in Arabic and the English initials “I” and “S.” Local media reported that there was a gunfight involving at least one attacker lasting almost half an hour.”

CEP Mentions

DW: How Russia Is Moving Closer To The Taliban

“... What does that mean? Although he does not know the internal decision-making processes in the Russian Foreign Ministry, says Hans-Jakob Schindler from the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) in The Hague. However, it can be assumed that Russia expects "something in return" for the offer to remove the Taliban from the terror list. However, that could cause problems: "The Taliban are always very willing to accept advance payments, but if there is something in return, things get very complicated with them." The German Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig sees the Kremlin's initiative as "a kind of salami tactic: very small steps towards official recognition - which the Taliban certainly likes." The next step after being removed from the terror list could be the recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate state power in Afghanistan, experts believe.”

Merkur.De: Terror Expert On Mannheim Attack: “Like Something From An Is Manual”

“Munich –  For days, the country was worried about Rouven Laur – but the police officer did not survive the knife attack in Mannheim . It is now known that Sulaiman A.'s attack was motivated by Islamism. Shortly before the European Football Championship, the incident is fuelling fears of further attacks. Hans-Jakob Schindler, former UN terrorism expert and director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), assesses the terror threat in an interview. There is much to suggest that the attacker was a lone perpetrator who was inspired by Islamist ideologies. However, one does not necessarily have to be connected to terrorist groups to carry out an attack. The knife attack can also be attributed to IS without IS actors themselves having actively participated.”

FrankfurterRundschau: Criticism Of X Over Video Of Mannheim Knife Attack: Further Distribution Can Be Punishable

“... Extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) finds this irresponsible. "Twitter is not just any darknet service, anyone could see it and use it," said Schindler in an interview with this editorial team. "The fact that the brutal video spread so quickly on X and can still be found is fueling the debates and conflicts." In fact, hundreds of comments, some of them extreme, quickly piled up under the posts showing the video - many with xenophobic content or from the radical Islamist corner. Others, however, spread fake news because they had simply misinterpreted the scenes. Schindler believes that the providers of large social media platforms like X have a responsibility.”

United States

Fox News: FBI Director Warns Of Jihadist Attack In US, Similar To Russian Concert Hall: 'Heightened Terrorist Threat'

“FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday that there is an increasing concern of a potential coordinated attack in the U.S., similar to the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) attack in March at a concert hall in Russia. Wray met with the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to make his case on the department’s request of $11.3 billion for FY25, or $661 million more than last year. He told members of the subcommittee that when he met with them last year, he walked them through how the U.S. was already in a heightened threat environment, and since then, threats from foreign terrorists have risen to another level. "Just in the time that I’ve been FBI director, we’ve disrupted multiple terrorist attacks and cities and communities around the country. We need funding to continue protecting America from terrorism," he said.”

Voice Of America: US Denies Houthis Struck USS Eisenhower

“U.S. defense officials have denied claims by the Yemen-based Houthi militants that the group struck a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Red Sea last week. “There is no truth to the Houthi claim of striking the USS Eisenhower or any U.S. Navy vessel,” U.S. Central Command told VOA. “This is an ongoing disinformation campaign that the Houthis have been conducting for months.” The Houthi claim followed U.S. and British strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the group in response to its campaign threatening vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Iran-backed Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the war in Gaza. Their campaign has disrupted commercial shipping through the important corridor, prompting many companies to reroute ships on the longer and more expensive route around the African continent.”

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Rights Group Urges UN To Demand Taliban Include Women In Talks About Future

“As the United Nations and the Taliban prepare to discuss Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, on June 30, a New York-based global women's rights advocacy nongovernmental organization has urged the U.N. to demand the Taliban ensure full and equal participation of Afghan women, peacebuilders and human rights defenders in all discussions about Afghanistan's future. During forthcoming meetings, the U.N. Security Council should demand that "the Taliban immediately reverse all policies and practices that restrict the full enjoyment of women's human rights, in accordance with Afghanistan's international obligations, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as well as relevant Security Council resolutions," the group, the Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, said in a communication posted May 30 on its website.”

Voice Of America: Taliban Publicly Flog 63 Afghan Men, Women For Crimes Such As 'Immoral Relations'

“The Taliban's supreme court announced Tuesday that more than 63 people, including 14 women, were publicly flogged in northern Afghanistan after being convicted of crimes such as homosexuality, adultery, and other “immoral relations.” This is the first time the fundamentalist Taliban rulers flogged such a large group of Afghans in public since returning to power in Kabul nearly three years ago. The announcement stated that Tuesday’s punishments were executed in the central sports stadium of Sar-e Pul, the capital of the Afghan province of the same name. The provincial governor, judges, security officials, area elders, and members of the public were among the onlookers. The Taliban have publicly flogged hundreds of men and women in sports stadiums across the country since retaking control of Afghanistan in August 2021. At least five Afghans convicted of murder have also been executed publicly by gunfire.”

Associated Press: Emirati Leader Meets With Taliban Official Facing $10 Million US Bounty Over Attacks

“The leader of the United Arab Emirates met Tuesday with an official in the Taliban government still wanted by the United States on an up-to $10 million bounty over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and other assaults. The meeting highlights the growing divide internationally on how to deal with the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 and since have barred girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and otherwise restricted women’s role in public life. While the West still doesn’t recognize the Taliban as Kabul’s government, nations in the Mideast and elsewhere have reached out to them. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, met Sirajuddin Haqqani at the Qasr Al Shati palace in the Emirati capital, the state-run WAM news agency reported.”

Lebanon

Associated Press: Rights Group Accuses Israel Of Hitting Residential Buildings With White Phosphorous In Lebanon

“A global human rights group accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on residential buildings in at least five towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon, possibly harming civilians and violating international law, in a report published Wednesday. Human Rights Watch said in its report that there was no evidence of burn injuries due to white phosphorus in Lebanon, but that researchers had “heard accounts indicating possible respiratory damage.” Human rights advocates say it’s a crime under international law to fire the controversial munitions into populated areas. The white-hot chemical substance can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small.”

BBC: Fires In Northern Israel Fuel Demands To Tackle Escalation With Hezbollah

“Hezbollah rockets have sparked days of bushfires in northern Israel, with swathes of forest reserve destroyed and 11 people hospitalised for smoke inhalation. Patches of scorched earth start to appear half an hour out from the Lebanon border, plumes of grey smoke mapping the route to either side across the hills. Local residents in Israel’s largely-deserted northern communities, have been battling scattered fires for several weeks. One member of a civil defence team said there had been 15-16 fires in the area since then. But high temperatures over the past few days have led to a sharp increase. Firefighters on Monday battled for 20 hours to put out fires around the town of Kiryat Shmona. The fires – which forest administrators say have so far burned through 3,500 acres of land – are fuelling fresh demands that Israel’s government take steps to end the escalating conflict with Hezbollah on its northern front.”

Middle East

Associated Press: In A West Bank Refugee Camp, Israel’s Raids Fuel The Militancy It Tries To Stamp Out

“An Israeli army raid in April set off a near three-day gunbattle with Palestinian militants. By the time it was over, homes had been blasted to rubble and many residents had fled. The raid wasn’t in Gaza, where Israel is at war with Hamas, but more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) away in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank — a territory that has been under Israeli military rule for over a half-century. The persistence of Palestinian militancy in the West Bank, and its surge since the war in Gaza began, shows the limits of Israel’s military might as the decades-old conflict grinds on with little prospect of a political settlement. Israeli leaders portray the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Hamas’ last bastion, suggesting that a long-elusive victory in the war ignited by the militants’ Oct. 7 attack may be at hand. They have vowed to maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Associated Press: Famine Is Possibly Underway In Northern Gaza Despite Recent Aid Efforts, A New Report Warns

“An independent group of experts warned Tuesday that it’s possible that famine is underway in northern Gaza but that the war between Israel and Hamas and restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded the data collection to prove it. “It is possible, if not likely,” the group known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, said about famine in Gaza. Concerns about deadly hunger have been high in recent months and spiked after the head of the World Food Program last month said northern Gaza had entered “full-blown famine” after nearly seven months of war. Experts at the U.N. agency later said Cindy McCain was expressing a personal opinion. An area is considered to be in famine when three things occur: 20% of households have an extreme lack of food, or are essentially starving; at least 30% of the children suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, meaning they’re too thin for their height; and two adults or four children per every 10,000 people are dying daily of hunger and its complications.”

Somalia

Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Claims Responsibility for Deadly Explosion in Somalia

“At least two Somali National Army (SNA) members were killed and three others injured after a remote control landmine exploded at the main checkpoint in Ceelberde town in Bakool region, southwest state of Somalia, according to eyewitnesses. The attack occurred on Tuesday, and Al-Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility for the incident. Al-Shabaab militants stated that they killed three SNA soldiers and wounded two others in the attack in Ceelberde town. However, local authorities and SNA officials have not yet provided details about the explosion. This attack comes as a grim reminder of the ongoing security challenges faced by the Somali government and its security forces in their efforts to combat the threat of Al-Shabaab militants. The group has been responsible for numerous attacks on civilians and security forces in the region, aiming to destabilize the government and impose its extremist ideology.”

United Kingdom

BBC: Teen Arrested At Gatwick By Counter-Terror Police

“A teenager has been arrested at Gatwick Airport on suspicion of a terrorism offence. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command stopped the 17-year-old under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Sunday as he returned to the UK. Police examined his phone and he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of dissemination of terrorist material. The investigation relates to extreme Islamist-related material, according to police. After being interviewed at a London police station, the teenager was released on bail until July. As part of the investigation, officers have also carried out a search at a residential address in south west London and said enquiries remain ongoing. Cdr Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Command, said this was another example of a teenager being arrested for terrorism offences, which he described as a "concerning trend".”

France

Voice Of America: Terror Attacks Headline Threats To Upcoming Paris Olympics

“There are new warnings about potential attacks aimed at disrupting the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Paris, including the potential for more terror plots like the one disrupted last week by French officials. A report released Tuesday by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future states that despite a high likelihood of cyberattacks, the greatest risk to the Paris Games will come from in-person threats instead of from cyberspace. “We assess that physical security threats — including terrorism, violent extremism, civil unrest and disruptive protests — pose the greatest risk of harm and disruption,” the report from Recorded Future’s Insikt Group said. “Terrorists and violent extremists — particularly IS [Islamic State] and al-Qaida supporters in France and neighboring European countries — will almost certainly continue to plot and incite violent attacks targeting the Paris Olympics,” the report added. “Though extensive security infrastructure in place for the event will make a successful mass-casualty attack very unlikely.””

Germany

DW: Far-Right AfD Appears As Strongest German Party On Tiktok

“Of all the parties represented in the German parliament the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) uses the youth social media platform TikTok the most, according to a study published Tuesday. "We are observing masses of openly right-wing extremist symbols and codes on TikTok," said Deborah Schnabel, the director of the Anne Frank Educational Center, which conducted the analysis.  "Time and again, accounts from the AfD or from the party's environment are involved" in such content, Schnabel said.  AfD party leader Alice Weidel was one of the top five political influencers on TikTok in Germany, the study noted. AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund of the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt was in first place with more than 400,000 followers. Woman holding a mobile phone on whose display a video of AFD politician Alice Weidel can be seen on the TikTok platform.”

Associated Press: German Authorities See Islamic Extremist Motive In Mannheim Knife Attack

“German authorities say they have uncovered evidence of an Islamic extremist motive in last week’s knife attack in the southwestern city of Mannheim in which a police officer was fatally injured. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote on the social media platform X late Monday that “there are now clear indications of an Islamist motive” for the attack and federal prosecutors, who are responsible for terrorism and national security cases, are taking over the investigation. The federal prosecutor’s office confirmed Tuesday that it has taken on the investigation, citing the significance of the case and the suspicion that it was religiously motivated. Investigators have said the suspected assailant, a 25-year-old man from Afghanistan who has lived in Germany since 2014 and reportedly had his asylum application rejected, stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opposing “political Islam.””

Europe

Associated Press: Slovenia Becomes Latest European Country To Recognize A Palestinian State After A Parliamentary Vote

“Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move, following in the recent steps of three other European countries. Slovenia’s government endorsed a motion last week to recognize a Palestinian state, and sent the proposal to the parliament for final approval, which was needed for the decision to take effect. Lawmakers on Tuesday voted with 52 in favor and no one against recognition in the 90-seat parliament. The remaining lawmakers were not present for the vote. “Dear people of Palestine, today’s final decision of Slovenia is a message of hope and peace,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on the social media platform X. “We believe that only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting peace in the #MiddleEast. Slovenia will tirelessly continue to work on the security of both nations, Palestinians and Israelis.””