Denmark and Germany announced Thursday arrests of several terror suspects, including alleged Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Introduction
Officials in the Iranian regime have been openly praising Hamas, Iran’s Palestinian proxy in the resistance axis, for its success in its October 7, 2023 invasion of southern Israel and massacre of over 1,200 civilians there, which Hamas dubbed the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. Three days after the scope of the brutal massacre became clear, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei chose a path of renouncing responsibility for the actions of its proxy Hamas, lest Iran’s image in the West be tarnished.[1] However, statements by Iranian regime officials, politicians, military leaders, and media figures show that Iran is the guiding force behind Hamas as well as behind the other militant groups belonging to the resistance axis and that these groups all act in coordination with Iran in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen – and that Iran is pulling the strings behind the scenes as it hides behind Hamas.
The leader of Hamas visited Egypt for this first time in more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and free more hostages.
The U.S. is mustering an international armada to deter Iranian-backed Houthi militias from Yemen from attacking shipping in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important waterways for global trade, including energy cargos.
The Houthis’ drone and missile attacks are ostensibly a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, but fears are growing that the broader world economy could be disrupted as commercial vessels are forced to reroute.
Following is the November 2023 installment of “ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency,” a monthly chronicle of attacks by the terrorist group ISIS in central Syria. A review of developments throughout 2022 and 2021 can be found here and here. The January 2023 edition of ISIS Redux can be found here, February’s here, March’s here, April’s here, May’s here, June’s here, July’s here, August’s here, September’s here, and October’s here. A full background and analysis of ISIS’s resurgence in Syria, including the methodology used to collect this data, can also be explored here, here, and here.
Low-cost and high-performing, Turkish-made armed drones are capturing an increasing share of the global market. This success comes with risks, including escalation of conflict and reputational damage, but there are several ways for Ankara to manage them.
The leader of Yemen’s Houthis warned on Wednesday they would strike U.S. warships if the Iranian-backed militia was targeted by Washington, which this week set up a multinational force to counter Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Reuters reported.
Abstract: Since October 7, in the wake of the “al-Aqsa Flood” terrorist attacks by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other Palestinian factions from across the ideological spectrum, Iran’s aid to and strategic management of these groups has taken on a new level of relevance. The methods Iran has used to cultivate and maintain influence and control over disparate Palestinian groups follows the same pragmatic carrot-and-stick formula it has used across the Middle East with other proxies, with incentives that include financial aid, weapons, and training. The use of sticks was particularly important in Tehran’s restoration of influence over Hamas and PIJ after the Syrian civil war drove a wedge between Palestinian groups and Iran. The withholding of funds and a divide-and-rule approach helped Tehran get these groups back in line. More generally, Iran has worked to create and leverage splinter groups, particularly from the Palestinian Authority’s dominant Fatah Movement, to grow its influence in Gaza and the West Bank. Tehran has also strived to build influence among leftist Palestinian groups to create a broad coalition of partners. And it uses umbrella groups and joint operations rooms to try to bolster the unity and coherence of its Palestinian network.
A Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq on Thursday killed three members of a Kurdish insurgent group, officials said, as Ankara’s top diplomat visited the seat of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government.
Turkish military actions against members of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, hiding in northern Iraq, have intensified in recent weeks. The violence is pitting Turkey and Turkish-backed groups on one side, and Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria on the other.
Ankara considers the PKK — which has waged a decadeslong insurgency within Turkey — and allied Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq as terrorist organizations. It claims members of the PKK regularly find sanctuary in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.
On Thursday, a Turkish military drone targeted a vehicle some 137 kilometers (86 miles) north of the city of Irbil, the seat of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish government, authorities said. One PKK leader and two fighters were killed.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey has made “great progress” in “solving the issue” of PKK insurgents who are “hiding inside the Iraqi territories.”
“God willing and all together, we will clean the Iraqi territories from this virus,” Fidan said, speaking at a joint news conference in Irbil with the the head of the local Kurdish government, Masrour Barzani.
Neither official addressed the strike in their statements, but Barzani said his government aims to maintain regional stability. The northern Iraqi Kurdish region “will not be a place for causing instability for neighboring countries,” he said.
The visit to the Irbil comes on the heels of Fidan’s trip to Baghdad on Tuesday, where he urged the Iraqi central government to designate the PKK as a terrorist organization. It also focused on resuming Iraqi Kurdish oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port — officials in Baghdad and Irbil have long been at odds over sharing of oil revenues.
While Baghdad has frequently complained that Turkish airstrikes in northern Iraq are a breach of its sovereignty, Fidan described the PKK’s activities there as a “challenge against Iraq’s sovereignty,” accusing the group of “occupying” areas in Iraq and seeking to link Iraq to neighboring Syria with a “terror corridor.”
Fidan’s visit to the Iraqi Kurdish region also takes place against a backdrop of internal tensions between Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two main parties governing the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region.
The KDP maintains closer ties with Turkey and has shown more willingness to accommodate Turkish military actions inside Iraq. The PUK has aligned itself more closely with the PKK and Iran, resisting Turkish influence.
While the two parties govern in a delicate coalition, their historical rivalry and differing stances on Turkey’s military activities in the area are often a source of tension.
Latest Developments
The Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group issued a warning on December 20 threatening to retaliate against U.S. warships if the American military were to target the Yemen-based group. This threat came on the heels of an announcement that the United States will lead a multinational mission to secure safe passage for commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea, where the Houthis have repeatedly attacked ships in recent weeks. While the Houthis hope these attacks will harm Israel as it fights Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip, threatening commercial shipping in the region stands to harm the Egyptian and Jordanian economies more than Israel’s.