The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock, among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.)
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On January 15, 2024, the Yemeni Houthi Ansar Allah Movement claimed responsibility for an attack involving "appropriate naval missiles" against an "American vessel" in the Gulf of Aden.
On January 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced the designation of Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis), as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.
On January 14, 2024, a previously unknown group called the Al-'Izz Islamic Battalions published a statement claiming responsibility for an attack earlier that morning involving five infiltrators who crossed the Israeli border from Lebanon in the Shebaa Farms area and clashed with an Israeli military patrol near the Ruwaysat Al-'Alam outpost, inflicting several casualties.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Following the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S. naval coalition tasked with safeguarding international shipping routes in the Red Sea, Telegram channels supportive of and affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq have been distributing graphics and posters online glorifying Yemen's Houthi Ansar Allah movement's attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, and promising defeat of the U.S.-led naval coalition.
On January 17, 2024, in response to the U.S. State Department's previous-day re-designation of the Houthi Ansar Allah Movement as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group due to the group's repeated acts of aggression against ships in the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandab Strait, the Secretary-General of the Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades, Abu Hussein Al-Hamidawi, published an open letter in support of the Houthis.
On January 14, 2024, a Syrian pro-opposition media outlet reported that according to its sources, 40 Hizbullah militants of Syrian, Palestinian, and Iraqi origins left Syria through the Damascus International Airport en route to Libya, and from there continued to Venezuela, to join Russian forces with the aim of "protecting Russian interests" in the Latin American country.
On January 16, 2024, the Yemeni Houthi Ansar Allah movement claimed responsibility for an attack involving "appropriate missiles" against the Greek vessel Zografia, which was "heading to the ports of occupied Palestine."
On January 17, 2024, the Yemeni Houthi Ansar Allah movement's Ministry of Foreign Affairs published an official statement responding to recent Arab and Western media reports that the European Union intends to send a naval task force to the Red Sea to defend naval routes in the region from Houthi aggression.
On January 17, 2024, for the third time since the escalation of tensions in the Red Sea, the Yemeni Houthi Ansar Allah movement claimed responsibility for an attack against an American vessel in the Gulf of Aden.
On January 12, 2023, Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis) published a photoset on its website and on Telegram showing a military exercise of the group's fighters as part of their preparation for the "holy jihad."
On January 11, 2024, Izzat Al-Rishaq, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, issued a statement in English and Arabic on Telegram praising the "the legal team of the State of South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague," for their arguments in support of the people of Gaza.
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On January 11, 2024, an online portal affiliated with Lebanese Hizbullah reported that the coordination body of Lebanese national parties, forces and figures, had visited the office of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Beirut to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, to condemn U.S. and Western stances about the war in Gaza, and to stress the importance of, and need for, Palestinian national unity to safeguard the Palestinian cause
On January 11, 2024, Izzat Al-Rishaq, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas, issued a statement in English and Arabic on Telegram praising the "the legal team of the State of South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague," for their arguments in support of the people of Gaza.
On January 10, 2024, a website published the will of a Hamas commander known as Abu Usamah Al-Ghazzi [the Gazan], who led a battalion in the dawn prayer "on the morning of the Al-Aqsa Flood."
On January 15, 2024, a pro-Hamas Telegram channel announced the launch of a fundraising campaign to support displaced Gazans. The post mentions that the money will be used to buy tents, foodstuffs, milk for babies, clothes, and blankets.
On January 15, 2024, a Gaza-based media outlet that supports Hamas published a Hebrew-language message on its Telegram channels, offering a cash reward for information on the Israeli officer and pilot responsible for a November 2023 airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
In 'Relief' Initiative Sponsored By Palestinian Expats, Gazans Solicit Donations Via Digital Wallets
On January 17, 2024, a Telegram channel shared a post promoting donations via digital wallets.
The Islamic Resistance In Iraq Claims Responsibility For Attacks In Northern, Southern Israel
On January 12, 2024, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group comprised of several Iran-backed Iraqi militias, claimed responsibility for two attacks earlier that morning "with appropriate weapons" against Israel, which it referred to as "the occupied lands."
On January 16, 2024, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed joint operations group of Iraqi militias, claimed that "in previous days" it had attacked "a vital target in the middle of the Zionist entity" using an "Arqab" long-range cruise missile. As with earlier claims, the claim declared the attack was perpetrated "in continuation of our practice of resisting the occupation and in defense of our people in Gaza," and vowed that the group would "continue to crush the enemy's strongholds."
Video By Iran-Backed Iraqi Militia Documents Group's Training In Hitting American Positions
On January 17, 2024, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia published a 43-second video on its Telegram channel, documenting a maneuver of the group's "special tasks" forces in memory of a "martyr" commander who led the group's rocket force before being killed in an accident in January 2020.
On the evening of January 15, 2024, Iran launched ballistic missiles at what it called a "Mossad-affiliated center" in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region," as well as at "terrorist-affiliated headquarters" in Idlib, Syria, describing the strikes as part of "the strong defense of the country's sovereignty and security, and against terrorism."
On January 16, 2024, an Iran-based Salafi-jihadi group released a statement condemning Iranian missile and drone strikes on the group in the mountainous Baluchestan province, near the Iran-Pakistan border.
On January 16, 2024, the Department of Political Affairs in the Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-backed Salvation Government (SSG) in Idlib, Syria, issued a statement responding to Iran's claimed missile attack.
On January 9, 2024, a Syrian opposition news site reported that a tunnel network running under Eastern Ghouta and other areas of Damascus and suburbs, which was discovered in 2018 by Syrian forces, is currently used by Iranian forces and Iran-backed factions as operations rooms, weapons storehouses, and transportation facilities.
Issue 425 of the Islamic State's (ISIS) weekly Al-Naba', published on January 12, 2024, contained a one-page article detailing the group's operations against Christian civilians in Mozambique over the past two weeks.
Issue 425 of Islamic State (ISIS) weekly magazine Al-Naba', released on January 11, 2024, included an infographic poster surveying the outcomes of ISIS' "Kill Them Wherever You Find Them" attack campaign over the ten days between January 1-10.
On January 9, 2024, the Islamic State Syria Province reported that on the previous day, its fighters detonated an IED on a patrol of "crusader Russian forces" between the villages of Al-Salhabiyah and Tuwayhinah, west of Raqqa.
On January 11, 2023, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet released a poster inciting lone wolf attacks in the West. It came as part of a global attack campaign called, "And Kill Them Wherever You Find Them," announced on January 4 by ISIS spokesman Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari.
On December 28, 2023, a website linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) published a Pashtu-language video titled "The Followers of Jews," describing the Afghan Taliban as "militias" working for the U.S. and accusing them of implementing plans in Afghanistan handed to them by their "Jewish masters."
On January 11, 2024, the Islamic State (ISIS) released Issue 425 of its weekly newsletter. Al-Naba', which featured an editorial, titled: "Perspectives On The Kerman Attack In Iran."
On January 7, 2024, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) media outlet published a poster criticizing Hamas for its alliance with Shi'ite Iran.
On January 14, 2024, the media arm of Al-Shabab published a statement reporting that an Al-Shabab shari'a court had executed five "spies" working for Kenyan and American intelligence and the "Western-backed Somali government," in addition to two government militia members.
On December 30, 2023, an Afghan TV channel aired a Pashtu-language documentary on the life of Afghan Taliban Minister For Refugee Affairs Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani, who is listed on the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice Program.
