A Time For War.

Nets above our cities.

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1. Violent conflict is increasing in multiple parts of the world. In addition to Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, and the Israeli offensive on Gaza, raising the specter of a wider war in the Middle East, there has been a surge in violence across Syria, including a wave of armed drone attacks that threatened U.S. troops stationed there. In the Caucasus in late September, Azerbaijan seized the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh—forcing an estimated 150,000 ethnic Armenians to flee their historical home in the territory and setting the stage for renewed fighting with Armenia. Meanwhile, in Africa, the civil war in Sudan rages on, conflict has returned to Ethiopia, and a military takeover of Niger in July was the sixth coup across the Sahel and West Africa since 2020. In fact, according to an analysis of data gathered by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, conducted by the Peace Research Institute Oslo, the number, intensity, and length of conflicts worldwide is at its highest level since before the end of the Cold War. The study found that there were 55 active conflicts in 2022, with the average one lasting about eight to 11 years, a substantial increase from the 33 active conflicts lasting an average of seven years a decade earlier. (Source: foreignaffairs.com)

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2. Israeli tanks and infantry temporarily seized control of a strategic road linking the Gaza Strip’s north and south, a major advance that appeared aimed at encircling the enclave’s biggest population center, Gaza City. The thrust through the center of Gaza marked the deepest push into Palestinian territory since Israeli ground troops entered the strip late last week, starting a new phase in its war to eradicate Islamist militant group Hamas following the surprise Oct. 7 attacks. The Israeli military and Hamas said there were clashes between troops and militants Monday, and Israel said its forces had freed a soldier taken prisoner on Oct. 7 in what appeared to be the first such rescue of a hostage in Gaza. (Source: wsj.com)

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3. Israel struck more targets in Lebanon and Syria overnight, while stepping up its ground operations in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a cease-fire, saying that would allow Hamas to regroup and restock on weapons. The United Nations warned that the situation in Syria, which borders Israel and where many Iran-backed militias operate, is “at its most dangerous for a long time.” (Source: bloomberg.com)