Associated Press: A Blast Killed 2 People And Injured 9 In A Shiite Neighborhood In The Afghan Capital Kabul

“An explosion in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in the Afghan capital Kabul killed two people and injured nine Thursday, a police spokesman said. The cause of the explosion wasn’t immediately known. Video from the scene shows part of a building with its windows blown out, flames billowing inside. Shattered glass and other debris are strewn across the street below. The Dashti Barchi area of Kabul has been targeted in the past by the Islamic State group affiliate in the country, which has carried out major, horrific assaults on schools, hospitals and mosques. The group has also attacked other Shiite areas of Afghanistan in recent years. IS has been waging a campaign of violence that has intensified since the Taliban took power in August 2021. Kabul police chief spokesman Khalid Zadran said the injured were transferred to a nearby hospital and that an investigation team has reached the scene to find out the cause of the blast. Local media outlet Tolo News reported that the Thursday evening explosion struck a sports club.”

Washington Post: U.S. To Warn Crypto Firms Against Financing Hamas, Terror Groups

“U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Friday will warn cryptocurrency firms against allowing their platforms to be used to finance terrorist organizations, as scrutiny mounts of how Hamas may have used digital currency to fund its attack on Israel. In a speech at London’s Royal United Services Institute, a foreign-policy think tank, Adeyemo will make clear that U.S. officials are tracking the role crypto firms play in supporting terrorist groups as lawmakers in both parties call for a closer investigation of digital funds. The remark comes amid a widening effort by the Treasury Department to crack down on the international financial channels that allowed Hamas to fund the deadly massacre in Israel. Treasury last week imposed sanctions on 10 Hamas members, operatives and other entities tied to the group. Treasury officials are also in Qatar this week to seek to crack down on international financial support for terrorist groups. The Wall Street Journal, citing the crypto research firm Elliptic, reported that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah raised $93 million in crypto before the attack. Although some analysts have said that figure is overstated, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) cited it in a letter, signed by more than 100 members of Congress, calling for stricter regulations on crypto trading.”

United States

Associated Press: US Fighter Jets Strike Iran-Linked Sites In Syria In Retaliation For Attacks On US Troops

“U.S. fighter jets launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week. The U.S. strikes reflect the Biden administration’s determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel’s war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict. According to a senior U.S. military official, the precision strikes were carried out near Boukamal by two F-16 fighter jets, and they struck weapons and ammunition storage areas that were connected to the IRGC. The official said there had been Iranian-aligned militia and IRGC personnel on the base and no civilians, but the U.S. does not have any information yet on casualties or an assessment of damage. The official would not say how many munitions were launched by the F-16s. A senior defense official said the sites were chosen because the IRGC stores the types of munitions there that were used in the strikes against U.S. bases and troops. The two officials briefed reporters after the strikes on condition of anonymity to provide details on the mission that had not yet been made public.”

Fox News: White House Battles Reporters As It Rejects Hamas' Gaza Death Count: We Won't Cite A 'Terrorist Organization'

“Top White House official John Kirby clashed with several reporters over President Biden's rejection of the Hamas-provided death toll of Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel. Questions at Thursday's press briefing were dominated by the comments Biden made Wednesday. He said he had "no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth" about the civilian body count being provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas, saying, "I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using." "The president yesterday, John, said he has no confidence in the death toll numbers presented by the Palestinians in Gaza. What's he basing that on? How did he reach that conclusion?" Reuters correspondent Steve Holland asked the NSC spokesman. "Well, we all know that the Gaza Ministry of Health is just a front for Hamas, it's run by Hamas, a terrorist organization," Kirby responded. "I've said it myself up here, we can't take anything coming out of Hamas, including the so-called Ministry of Health, at face value."”

Afghanistan

Voice Of America: Taliban Free Prominent Afghan Education Advocate

“The Taliban government in Afghanistan released a nationally known education activist Thursday after nearly seven months in prison. Matiullah Wesa, founder of PenPath, a community-based education support network, was picked up at gunpoint in Kabul in March for alleged "suspicious activities." His house was raided by de facto Afghan authorities. "Matiullah Wesa was released today after spending 215 days in prison," PenPath confirmed through the X social media platform. Taliban officials did not immediately comment on the activist's release. His arrest outraged the international community and drew widespread calls for the Taliban to free him. "I welcome the release of Matiullah Wesa and call for the immediate & unconditional release of all #Afghanistan human rights defenders who are arbitrarily detained for standing up for their own rights & the human rights of others," Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of Afghan human rights, wrote on X. Amnesty International hailed Wesa's release as "good news from Afghanistan" and said on X that he "should never have been jailed for promoting girls' right to education."”

Lebanon

Reuters: Israel-Hamas Conflict: Hezbollah Knows Broken Lebanon Cannot Afford Spill-Over War

“With an economy in ruins and a crumbling state, Lebanon can ill afford another war between Hezbollah and Israel. Iran-backed Hezbollah knows this and is keeping Lebanon's crises in mind as it plots the next steps in the conflict with Israel, sources say. As the war between Israel and Hezbollah's Palestinian ally Hamas reverberates across the Middle East, the risk of war between Hezbollah and Israel remains higher than at any point since their last big conflict in 2006. Analysts say the Shi'ite group could escalate if Hamas appears to be on the ropes in the Gaza Strip 200 km (130 miles) away, while Lebanese leaders fear Israel could chose to instigate a major conflict with Hezbollah. But with Israel warning Hezbollah it would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon were the group to open the front, the costs of any war loom large in a country already suffering one of the most destabilising phases since its 1975-90 civil war. "Hezbollah has no interest in war. Lebanon has no interest in war", a source familiar with Hezbollah thinking said. The group did not want to see the country destroyed and Lebanese fleeing from the south as thousands already have, the source said.”

Middle East

NewsNation: Israeli Airstrikes Kill 5 Senior Hamas Operatives – Who Are They?

“As for the impact of the strikes, “Unfortunately, targeting these leaders will …l make a dent in the short run, eventually they will be replaced, given the nature of Hamas, which is dedicated to an ideology,” said Josh Lipowsky, senior research analyst with the Counter Extremism Project.”

NPR: What Is The 'Axis Of Resistance' Of Iran-Backed Groups In The Middle East?

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a warning this week that the United States would act "swiftly and decisively" if it came under attack from Iran or its proxies in the Middle East, amid growing concerns of the Israel-Hamas war spreading. His warning came as the White House accused Iran of facilitating attacks on U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq in the last week. Questions about the extent of Iran's involvement in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel have shone a spotlight on Iranian influence in the Middle East and raised major concerns about the prospect of a wider war engulfing the region. The U.S. has said there is no direct evidence that Iran was involved in the Hamas attack against Israel. However, analysts and regional experts say there are evident links between Iran and the attacks carried out by Hamas. "Hamas and Iran have a long-standing but not always easy relationship," says Kim Ghattas, author of Black Wave, a book about the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. "Hamas gets funding and weapons from Iran. So whether or not it approved of the Oct. 7 attack, Iran is complicit." Ali Barakeh, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon, told NPR earlier this month that while "Iran knows that Hamas fights Israel and offers us support, which we do not deny ... we don't take orders from anyone."”

Associated Press: Hamas Official Calls For Stronger Intervention By Regional Allies In Its War With Israel

“A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Palestinian militant group had expected stronger intervention from Hezbollah in its war with Israel, in a rare public appeal to its allies in the region. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’ decision-making political bureau, said in an interview that “we need more” from allies, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in light of an Israeli air campaign that Palestinian health officials say has killed more than 7,000 people, mostly civilians, in the besieged Gaza Strip. The relentless Israeli bombardment of Gaza came in response to a brutal Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, many of them civilians. More than 200 people were dragged back to Gaza as hostages. The death toll on both sides is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is likely to rise if Israel launches an anticipated ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas. On the sidelines of the Israel-Hamas war, Hezbollah has engaged in regular but limited skirmishes with Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border. There has been widespread speculation as to if and to what extent Hezbollah would expand its involvement in the conflict.”

Germany

DW: Germany: Nationwide Raids Target Neo-Nazi Music Scene

“Police on Thursday launched raids on several targets across Germany and the Spanish island of Mallorca in an effort to secure evidence in a case being prepared by police and prosecutors in the eastern German cities of Oldenburg and Celle. The raids, which are ongoing, target members of Germany's right-wing extremist music scene, whom prosecutors suspect of being part of an active criminal organization. They focused on targets in Lower Saxony, according to the Celle general prosecutor's office, which noted that police had raided other sites in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Berlin, Hamburg, Rhineland Palatinate and Thuringia. No specific information was given as to what types of facilities were targeted, with authorities saying they would give a full report after completing their operation.”