Evolving European Security Dynamics In A Post-Ukraine Era – OpEd

The security concerns of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) encompass a wide range of challenges of unprecedented magnitude. Since its inception in 1949, NATO has been involved in several military operations in Europe. During the Cold War, it maintained a defensive posture in Europe to deter potential aggression from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact Countries. This effort included the deployment troops, military exercises, and maintaining combat readiness to respond to a potential conflict.

The Path to October 7: How Iran Built Up and Managed a Palestinian ‘Axis of Resistance’

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.

Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq kills 4 Kurdish insurgents as Ankara’s top diplomat visits region

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.

Houthi Anti-Israel Attacks Harm Egypt and Jordan

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.

Daily Jihad in France

From the murder of Sébastien Sellam in 2003 to that of Mireille Knoll in 2018, all murders of Jews in France have been committed by radicalized Muslims.

Shouting “we are coming to kill white people”, they attacked, murdering Thomas Perotto, aged 17, who had his throat slit. Seventeen other people were wounded, some seriously. Criminologist Xavier Raufer, asked about the attack, replied that raids like that take place throughout the country every week.

Hamas

Highlights:
Established In: 1987

Established By: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, Mahmoud Zahar

Also Known As: Ḥarakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah Islamic Resistance Movement

Ahmed Siam Killed: 5 Points On Hamas Commander Who Held 1,000 Hostages

The Israeli military claimed it killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike, who was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 people and patients as hostages in a Gaza hospital. In a tweet posted on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Ahmed Siam was also responsible for preventing the evacuation of Gaza residents to the Southward.

Hamas Terror Plot Foiled in Europe

Latest Developments

Danish, Dutch, and German authorities made several arrests on December 14 in what Israel described as a Hamas-linked terrorist plot on European soil. Danish police announced during a press conference in Copenhagen that they had arrested three suspects, while Dutch police arrested a fourth suspect in Rotterdam. Dutch police — who this week raised their own terrorism threat level to “substantial” and had been on heightened security alert for months — said the arrest also involved German authorities.

The hostilities in south Lebanon have driven tens of thousands of local residents to flee to the northern areas

Hezbollah joined the fighting against Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after Operation Iron Swords began,[2] and opened a front on Israel’s northern border, attacking IDF posts and military crews along the border. The IDF has responded by firing artillery at the sources of the rocket attacks and by attacking Hezbollah facilities in south Lebanon. In the wake of the tense situation and the fear of escalation, residents of villages and towns in south Lebanon began to move to northern areas, noteworthy because Hezbollah usually places its posts and bases in or near civilian settlements.