• GAZA WARThe Road to October 7: Hamas’ Long Game, Clarified

    By Devorah Margolin and Matthew Levitt

    When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force of arms in 2007, it faced an ideological crisis. It could focus on governing Gaza and addressing the needs of the Palestinian people, or it could use the Gaza Strip as a springboard from which to attack Israel. Even then, Hamas understood these two goals were mutually exclusive. And while some anticipated Hamas would moderate, or at least be co-opted by the demands of governing, it did not. Instead, Hamas invested in efforts to radicalize society and build the militant infrastructure necessary to someday launch the kind of attack that in its view could contribute to the destruction of Israel. The road from Hamas’ 2007 takeover of Gaza to the October 2023 massacre offers insights about the organization and its goals.

  • TERRORISMGerman Domestic Intelligence: Heightened Terror Risk

    By Richard Connor

    Germany’s domestic intelligence agency says the danger of a terror attack in the country is “higher than it has been for a long time.” It cited the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war as factors.

  • SHIPPING SECURITYGlobal Shipping Rattled After Houthis Seize Israeli Vessels

    By Jo Harper

    Since Houthis seized a ship owned by an Israeli businessman last week in the Red Sea, global shipping has been taking stock of potentially rising risks.

  • GAZA WARThe Path to Peace in Gaza Lies in Defeating Hamas

    By Justin Bassi

    Israel cannot continue living with a Hamas-controlled Gaza. The untenability of having Hamas on Israel’s border has long been clear. However, to dismantle and disarm the group was always going to involve grievous civilian bloodshed and the inflaming of anti-Israeli opinion—a prohibitive proposition for Israel prior to 7 October. Yet now Israel finds itself facing this task anyway, which is a reminder to the world that tolerating the intolerable—even grudgingly, because the alternatives are too difficult—is never sustainable in the long term. This was demonstrated on 7 October.

  • GAZA WARGaza War: How Representative Is Hamas of Ordinary Palestinians?

    By Christoph Bluth

    The catastrophic Hamas attack on October 7, which has led to the deaths of so many Palestinian civilians in Gaza in Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, has eliminated any pretense of legitimacy that Hamas may ever have had in the eyes of most of the world. Indeed, the days of Hamas may be over. But this will only increase the urgency of finding a long-term solution for Palestine, something that seems further away than ever.

  • TERRORISMRegional Security Analysts Say Africa at Risk of Drone Terrorism

    By Timothy Obiezu

    African terrorist groups are using global affiliations to acquire and modify drones for their own needs. Though the drones are not yet being used to launch attacks, the growing use of drones by terrorist groups is only a question of time, and analysts worry that in the long run, they could change the balance of power with governments.

  • GAZA WARHamas Isn’t the First Military Group to Hide Behind Civilians as a Way to Wage War

    By Benjamin Jensen

    Using places and things civilians need, like hospitals, as a means to fight a war is considered a weapon of the weak. It is a way to use another side’s values against it. I think it is clear that Hamas has – in this war and historically – tried to embed themselves and weapons in places civilians live or visit, in order to make it more difficult for the Israelis to target them. But using civilians to further a military advantage is not a new phenomenon.

  • AUTHORITARIANISMTerrorism Rather Than Pandemics More Concerning for Those with Authoritarian Views, Analysis Shows

    By Kerra Maddern

    People with authoritarian political views are more likely to be concerned about terrorism and border control than a future new health pandemic, new research shows.

  • GAZA WARResponsible Reporting: Citing the Gaza Health Ministry

    Hamas, the terrorist organization, which has provided misleading or false information to reporters, distorts information about the casualties in Gaza. Hamas controls the Gaza Health Ministry, which is the predominant source of information on casualties in Gaza. While some media outlets have recently begun to identify the Gaza Health Ministry as a Hamas-controlled entity, many do not, which constitutes an omission of a source’s clear bias.

  • EXTREMISMNew survey: 70% of Americans Agree Jew-Hatred Is a Serious and Growing Problem in the U.S.

    In the month following Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by 316 percent compared to the same time period last year. At the same time, Americans are growing increasingly concerned about antisemitism, with more than 70 percent agreeing in a new survey that Jew-hatred is a serious problem.

  • TERRORISMWorrying Trends Highlight Need for Vigilance Against Homegrown Terrorism

    By William Frangia

    Despite intense efforts to counter violent extremism over the past two decades, the threat of domestic terrorism still endangers Australians. The focus has shifted from primarily transnational jihadists to violent homegrown ideologues with a range of motivations. As violent extremism evolves, Australia must adapt its strategy to confront this persistent challenge and protect social cohesion and national security.

  • GAZA WARGenerative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and the Israel-Hamas War

    Promoters of conspiracy theories and hate are using generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to create misleading content about the Israel-Hamas war. This not only amplifies confusion and hate on social media; it can also cause some to doubt the validity of actual war images, creating unnecessary suspicion at a time of deeply polarized public opinion.

  • GAZA WARFact Check: AI Fakes in Israel's War Against Hamas

    By Ines Eisele and Uta Steinwehr

    Real or fake? Images generated by artificial intelligence have become a disinformation tool in the war between Israel and Hamas. DW’s fact-checking team shows you how to spot them.

  • ARGUMENT: QANON & ARMED MILITIASWhat Jan. 6 Revealed About QAnon and Militias

    Beginning 3-4 years ago, the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters — the three extremist anti-government militia groups playing a prominent role in the 6 January attack on the Capitol — have adjusted their ideological perspective to find a rallying point around QAnon conspiracy theories. “Throughout 2020, as members of extremist groups coalesced in what researchers have termed a ‘militia-sphere,’ their messaging latched on to QAnon conspiracy theories.”

  • GAZA WARCivilian Deaths and Proportionality in the Israel–Hamas War

    By Rodger Shanahan

    Hamas invites civilian casualties by its positioning of military assets, and now that it knows that Israel’s risk tolerance is well beyond anything it has seen before, it likely sees outcries over more civilian casualties leading to a ceasefire as its only chance of survival. And Washington hopes that Israel can inflict grievous damage on Hamas before the White House will have to acquiesce to public opinion and back some kind of ceasefire. Israel, Hamas and Washington are all accepting of civilian casualties in Gaza—they only differ in how many and why.