Why Nicola Procaccini is Demanding a Ban on the Muslim Brotherhood
More than a year after the atrocities of October 7, the most alarming fallout isn’t confined to the Middle East—it is playing out directly inside European institutions. A recent and highly revealing report by Il Tempo has pulled back the curtain on a reality that too many politicians are eager to ignore: the normalization of political Islam and the active presence of organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood across European society.
European Union Flag. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The Il Tempo coverage correctly frames the current wave of "October 7 denialism" and aggressive anti-Israel mobilization not as isolated, organic protests, but as part of a coordinated political strategy.
The standout intervention highlighted in the report comes from ECR co-president Nicola Procaccini. As reported by Il Tempo, Procaccini has drawn a definitive line, explicitly calling for the Muslim Brotherhood to be added to the European Union’s official terrorist list.
🇾🇪|The Fall of Taiz: Islah Party forces abandon the city, civilians loot armories, and the Saudi-led coalition's defense line collapses completely.
Taiz, a city under siege for a decade is undergoing a total collapse of power.
Over the past 48 hours, armed forces belonging to the Islah Party (the Yemeni branch of the Muslim Brotherhood) have begun a full-scale withdrawal from the city of Taiz. As they pulled out, local residents flooded into abandoned military strongholds and looted the weapon depots left behind by the Islah Party.
This was a deal not a rout.
The Islah Party’s Withdrawal: A Pre-Arranged Handover
The Islah Party’s retreat was not the result of a battlefield defeat. Multiple sources confirm that the Islah leadership reached an agreement with the Sana'a side (Ansar Allah): they would relinquish Taiz in exchange for safe passage for their fighters to withdraw.
Hamoud Al-Mikhlafi, the Islah Party commander in Taiz along with his "Popular Resistance" militia conducted direct negotiations with Ansar Allah figures Sultan Al-Samei and Salim Al-Mughalis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Islah forces are to withdraw toward Aden, while control of Taiz is handed over to Sana'a-aligned forces. Remaining fighters in the city permitted to keep their vehicles but not their weapons are allowed to leave and rejoin their own ranks.
The Islah Party has publicly acknowledged the deal. The party had previously issued a statement announcing its decision to "return to peaceful coexistence" and demanding guarantees from the Sana'a side regarding the return of displaced persons.
This was not a surrender. It was a pre-arranged political capitulation.
Armories Looted: Civilians Surge In, Weapons Flow to the Public
As Islah forces withdrew, military strongholds in Taiz and the surrounding areas were abandoned. Footage circulating on social media shows local residents swarming an Islah Party camp in the Al-Hajriyah area and looting large quantities of weapons and military equipment.
The Islah Party had previously claimed not to possess these weapons; however, as they began to withdraw, the arms were being sold off on a massive scale.
Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni reported that the Islah Party conducted "large-scale arms sales" in Taiz, coinciding exactly with the timing of their withdrawal from positions. The report noted that the decision to sell these weapons signaled their preparations to leave the city.
Islah Party leaders had previously publicly denied possessing heavy weaponry. Yet, as residents stormed their warehouses, the stockpiles inside were being cleared out.
Strategic Context: Severing the Taiz-Aden Supply Line
The Islah Party's retreat followed the severing of the main Taiz-Aden supply line by Yemeni armed forces.
On October 4, Ansarallah forces liberated the strategic Al-Turbah area in southern Taiz Governorate, cutting the primary supply route used by Saudi-backed forces between Aden and Taiz. Al-Turbah served as the last major land corridor connecting Taiz city to Aden.
Islah-led forces specifically those commanded by Abu Bakr Al-Jabouli fled via the Al-Sihi-Hazaz and Al-Zariqa routes, leaving behind a scene of "unprecedented collapse."
Meanwhile, Yemeni armed forces have been advancing on multiple fronts in Taiz. On October 6, they secured new positions in the Haifan district. On October 7, they launched an offensive to capture the remaining parts of Jabal Habashi, with fighting advancing toward the Darb Najd al-Awd road.
The encirclement of Taiz is closing in. Internal Chaos within the Islah Party: Mutual Recriminations and Leadership Flight
The Islah Party’s retreat has exposed deep internal divisions.
Party leaders have engaged in public finger-pointing over who bears responsibility for the failure. Meanwhile, several Islah commanders have fled Taiz with their families; Khaled Fadel the commander of the so-called "Taiz Axis" has relocated his wife and children to Amman, Jordan, via Aden Airport.
Trust between the Saudi side and the Islah Party has also collapsed. On September 29, Saudi forces conducted airstrikes on the residences of Islah leaders in Taiz while simultaneously summoning them. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government appointed Yousef Al-Sharaji to oversee the Taiz front, yet Al-Sharaji stands accused of emptying weapons depots in southern Taiz prior to the withdrawal of Saudi forces.
The collapse of the Islah Party is not merely a military failure; it is a political bankruptcy.
Conclusion: The "Liberation" of Taiz Was a Handover, Not a Conquest
The Saudi-led coalition's defensive lines in Taiz are disintegrating from within. The Islah Party an armed political faction that held sway over Taiz for years chose to strike a deal with Sana'a and abandon the city rather than fight for it.
The people of Taiz are looting Islah Party weapons depots. Arms that once maintained the party's grip on the city are now flooding into civilian hands.
Islah forces are retreating toward Aden. Yet their destination—Aden—is itself teetering on the brink of collapse amidst infighting between Saudi-backed government forces and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The fall of Taiz is not the end; it is the beginning of a much larger collapse.
This is not merely a foreign policy talking point; it is a question of domestic and institutional security. According to the political concerns mapped out in Il Tempo, the Muslim Brotherhood presents itself with an outward veneer of moderation while advancing a deliberate political project aimed at eroding democratic rules from within.
The article details a concerning pattern: the alleged exploitation of left-wing political networks, which act as a virtual "Trojan horse" allowing Islamist groups to penetrate European civic and institutional spheres. We are witnessing this dynamic unfold on university campuses, in municipal debates, and through institutional reluctance to confront extremist rhetoric head-on.
Europe cannot afford to treat political Islam as a taboo topic. Procaccini’s demand to classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist entity is not an overreaction—it is an essential defensive measure to halt an insidious strategy of social influence and infiltration. As Il Tempo’s reporting makes clear, Brussels must act before the institutions built to protect democracy are compromised by it.
Reference:
Il Tempo Reporting on Political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood
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