Israel. Triggered by a local dispute in Jerusalem and the subsequent ultimatum to Israel issued by Hamas, an intense conflict erupts between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, fought primarily with rockets, drones, and aerial bombardments. A total of 4,360 rockets were fired by Hamas toward Israel, of which 680 fell by mistake on Gaza and 280 into the sea, and 60 to 70 were not intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile shield and fell on Israel. Twelve Israeli civilians and one soldier were killed. Palestinian civilians and militants were killed in 248 attacks, and over 1,600 were injured. 1,042 buildings were destroyed in Gaza, along with 100 kilometers of Hamas tunnel systems.

Qamishli, Syrian Kurdistan, bordering Turkey. Asayish (Kurdish: Asayîş, Arabic: الْأَسَايِش), or Kurdish internal security forces, after a brief battle, took control of most of the city, which had previously been largely occupied by government troops and pro-government forces.

Rome. Walter Biot, an Italian Navy officer, is arrested for espionage. He handled classified documents aimed at state security. Biot was responsible, among other things, for the projection of Italian defense assets in foreign theaters of operations, as well as NATO, EU, and UN operations. The officer, caught red-handed, had sold 181 photographs of classified material to a Russian spy. The material includes nine documents classified as top secret, of a military nature, and 47 NATO documents considered “secret.” Top secret documents have four levels: confidential, top secret, secret, and top secret. Italy expels two Russian diplomats. It will later be determined, in April 2022, that the documents Biot sold to the Russians are 47 ‘NATO secret’, 57 ‘NATO confidential’, and nine classified as ‘top secret’, states the Court of Cassation.

Al-Qa’im, Syria. Two American F-15s struck 11 targets, including buildings and trucks in Al-Qa’im, Syria, loaded with munitions and explosives, on the Iraqi border on the Euphrates River. These targets were linked to pro-Iranian militias. Ten days earlier, in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, pro-Iranian militias had struck a US base with missiles, killing a civilian contractor and wounding several soldiers, including an American.

Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. Pro-Iranian militias strike a US base with missiles. A civilian contractor is killed and several soldiers, including an American, are wounded. After an investigation conducted with Iraqi support, ten days later the United States responds by bombing 11 targets, buildings, and trucks in Al-Qa’im, Syria, loaded with munitions and explosives, on the Iraqi border along the Euphrates River. These targets are linked to pro-Iranian militias.

United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discloses a Russian cyberattack, ongoing for months, against the digital infrastructure operated by SolarWinds, the company that manages the US military’s nuclear program. It is being described as the worst case of cyberwarfare in US history. Other targets were also targeted, including Great Britain.

Tehran, Iran. Nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is assassinated by automatic weapons fire, fired from a remotely operated satellite device.

Nagorno-Karabakh, Caucasus: Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a peace agreement, backed by Russian troops positioned on the current front line. Azerbaijani troops recently captured the historic city of Shusha, thus occupying the entire southern part of the region, and are now at the gates of the regional capital, Stepanakert.

Kabul, Afghanistan. At least three suicide bombers detonate inside the university, killing 22 and wounding dozens. The attack is claimed by Daesh/ISIS.

Vienna. Terrorist attacks involving firearms and knives at six different locations in the city kill five people (including one of the attackers) and wound 14, including a police officer. The remaining attacker appears to have previously attempted unsuccessfully to reach Syria to fight alongside ISIS.

Nice, France. A man armed with knives enters the Catholic Basilica of Notre Dame, repeatedly shouting “Allahu Akbar,” and kills three people: a 60-year-old woman praying, nearly decapitated; the 55-year-old sacristan, with a deep throat slash; and a 44-year-old woman who manages to escape with multiple wounds, including a deep throat wound, but dies in the bar overlooking the basilica where she had sought refuge to seek help. After police intervened, the attacker is seriously injured and arrested: a Tunisian who had entered Europe from Lampedusa, in possession of a Red Cross identification card and a deportation order to leave Italy by October 9th. Other attacks occur that same day, one in Avignon, southern France, and one at the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Nagorno-Karabakh, Caucasus: the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has reignited, and in an unexpectedly bloody way.

Tehran, Iran. Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammed al-Masri is killed, along with his daughter, by two men on a motorcycle. His daughter, Miriam, is the widow of Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza. The initial report in the Iranian official press named a Lebanese history professor and his daughter, but a few days later these identities were removed. Several months later, revelations from an anonymous source in the United Arab Emirates and then from Israeli and American intelligence agencies revealed the identity of the al-Qaeda leader, who was one of the organizers of the attacks on the US embassy in Kenya. His daughter, Miriam, had married Osama bin Laden’s son as a teenager in 2005, and some footage of the event was found by the Americans in bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabbad, Pakistan, and released by the CIA in 2017.

Mali. France announced that Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of Al-Qaeda in North Africa, was killed in May by French forces, and a senior leader of the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS), Mohamed Mrabat, was captured.

Northwest Libya: GNA government forces control the city of Tarhuna and the entire southern part of Tripoli: Haftar’s LNA forces withdraw.

Northwest Libya: GNA government forces manage to regain full control of Tripoli airport.

Northwest Libya: Hundreds of Russian mercenaries with much of their equipment leave the area on airstrikes, headed for the rear of central Libya controlled by Haftar (LNA). Turkish drones supporting Al-Sarraj (GNA) do not attack the retreating Russians.

Northwest Libya: Turkish-supplied UAVs and GNA government forces destroyed or captured seven Russian-made Pantsir-S1 self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons systems in just 48 hours. These self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons cost approximately $14 million each and were supplied to General Haftar’s LNA forces by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Northwest Libya: The gigantic and strategic al-Watiyah air base is captured by Al-Sarraj’s government forces (GNA), who then pursue Haftar’s (LNA) men in retreat.

N’Djamena, Chad. Forty-four prisoners of Boko Haram, an Islamic State affiliate, were found poisoned in their cells. They were among a group of 58 arrested in a raid after Boko Haram killed one hundred Chadian soldiers.

Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian security forces killed seven jihadists with suspected links to ISIS during a raid, followed by a violent four-hour urban battle, in Cairo’s Al-Amireya neighborhood. The extremists were planning attacks on Coptic churches ahead of Sunday’s Orthodox Easter. An Egyptian police officer was killed during the firefight, while three others were injured. Security forces later found weapons and large quantities of ammunition.

Libya. Forces of the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of al-Sarraj, based in Tripoli, recapture the coastal towns of Sabratha, Surman, al-Ajaylat, Regdalin, al-Jumayl, Zelten, and al-Essa, thus regaining continuous territorial control along Libya’s entire western coast. Turkish air support is crucial. The forces of General Haftar, based in Benghazi, of the Libyan National Army (LNA), allied with the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Egypt, retreat into the desert interior.