Hamas Threatens To Repeat October 7 Attack In Or From West Bank

Hamas leaders continue to threaten a repeat of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel[1] and to incite the people of the West Bank to attack Israelis and take part in terrorist activity. Telegram channels identified with Hamas’ student organization, the Islamic Bloc, and especially with its branches in the West Bank, are especially active in spreading threats and incitement of this kind.[2] In a November 16 post on its Telegram channel, for example, the Islamic Bloc urged the people of the West Bank to emulate the October 7 attack by storming Israeli localities within their reach. Other posts on this channel likewise incite terrorism and provide operational advice on carrying out effective attacks.

Al Qaeda’s Growing Presence in Southern Yemen Is a Threat to the Regional Security Framework

The recent announcement of an assassination of the commander of the Security Belt forces (in South Yemen), Brigadier General Abdul Latif Al-Sayed, by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is yet another reminder that not only have the security and terrorism concerns in South Yemen have not been put to rest, but that growing sectarianism and political battles over the direction and future of this area plays into the hands of the international terrorist organizations. AQAP took credit for the attack, which also killed several other leaders, according to Aden Al Ghad. Yemen security researcher Elisabeth Kendall pointed out that Abdul Latif Al-Sayed had a falling out with Al Qaeda in 2011, and since then had been a repeat target of assassination attempts.

IRGC Quds Force

General Info:

The Quds Force (Persian: نیروی قدس, romanized: niru-ye qods, lit. ’Jerusalem Force’) is one of five branches of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army’s Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemeni Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

Hamas

General Info:

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamic organization, with an associated military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the Middle East including Qatar. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, Israel, Japan and the United States. Australia and the United Kingdom have designated the military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades as a terrorist organization.

Al-Azhar University Islamic Scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Rida: The Jews Are Quarrelsome, Corrupt; They Killed The Prophets, So It Is Not Surprising They Are Annihilating Children, Homes, And Schools

Sheikh Ibrahim Rida, an Islamic scholar at Egypt’s renowned Al-Azhar University, said on a November 6, 2023 show on Sada Al-Balad TV (Egypt) that the Jews are quarrelsome people who killed many prophets and spread corruption on earth. He said that no one should find it strange that they are annihilating children, homes, and schools.

Virulent Incitement By Al-Azhar: Praise For Palestinian Jihad Fighters; Israel Is Destined To Perish; U.S. Is The Greatest Satan; Jews Are Descendants Of Apes And Pigs

Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb (Image: Facebook.com/OfficialAzharEg, October 2, 2023)

In the recent weeks, the Cairo-based Al-Azhar institution, the leading center of religious learning and supreme source of religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world, and senior members of this institution, have been voicing support for Hamas and for terrorism and inciting against the U.S. and Israel, while using virulently antisemitic rhetoric. For example, a fatwa (religious ruling) recently issued by Al-Azhar praised the Palestinian resistance and even called on Israeli Arabs to join the struggle against Israel, saying that this country is destined to perish. Senior Al-Azhar clerics, including Muhammad Omar Al-Qady, dean of the Faculty for Islamic and Arabic Studies at Al-Azhar University, and Abbas Shuman, formerly the deputy of Sheikh Al-Azhar and currently the inspector general of the institute’s fatwa committees, incited against Israel and made antisemitic remarks, calling the Jews “descendants of apes and pigs,” “killers of the prophets” and “enemies of humanity” and hoping for their perdition. Al-Qady also directed his invective at the U.S., calling it the “greatest Satan” and a “mafia” state with a “drunken” president.

Hezbollah

General Info:

Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council. After the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the organisation has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. The United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Canada and Israel have classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, though in early 2015 an assessment from the United States director of National Intelligence removed it from the list of terrorist threats against the United States. The European Union and New Zealand have proscribed Hezbollah’s military wing, but do not list Hezbollah as a whole as a terrorist organization.

Polisario Front

General Info:

The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (lit. ’Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro’; Arabic: الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الساقية الحمراء ووادي الذهب, romanized: al-Jabhah al-Shaʿbiyah Li-Taḥrīr as-Sāqiyah al-Ḥamrāʾ wa Wādī al-Dhahab), is a rebel Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement claiming Western Sahara.

Galilee Forces

General Info:

The Galilee Forces (Quwat al-Jalil) are a Palestinian militia allied with the Ba’athist Syrian government, currently fighting in the Syrian Civil War. Its serves as the armed wing of the Movement of the Youth of the Palestinian Return (Harakat Shabab al-Oudat al-Falastinia). The Galilee Forces have a sub-unit, the Badr Brigades, which is active in Aleppo.

Wagner Group

General Info:

The Wagner Group (Russian: Группа Вагнера, tr. Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner (Russian: ЧВК[a] «Вагнер», tr. ChVK «Vagner»; lit. ’Wagner Private Military Company’), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The group operates beyond the law in Russia, where private military companies are officially forbidden. Because it operates in support of Russian interests, receives equipment from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and uses MoD installations for training, the Wagner Group is said to be a de facto unit of the MoD or Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. While the Wagner Group itself is not ideologically driven, various elements of Wagner have been linked to neo-Nazism and far-right extremism.