The Islamic State (IS) released a posthumous video from a Canadian fighter urging fellow Muslims to come to Syria with their families and participate in jihad. The 11 minute, 7 second, English video was produced by the IS’ al-Hayat Media Center, and was uploaded to a file-sharing website on July 11, 2014.

Beyond any doubt, the Syrian civil war has reversed Core al-Qaeda’s waning fortunes and re-energized its one-time Iraqi spear-carrier, the Islamic State—formerly the Islamic State of Iraq al-Sham (ISIS), Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), and before that, al-Qaeda in Iraq (aQI).

In a series of messages posted on its Twitter account on July 8, 2014, the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam claimed that it launched a total of seven rockets into Israel in revenge for the recent military offensive in Gaza.

On July 4, a group of six fighters reportedly attacked the al-Wadia border post, two of whom managed to enter the Saudi city of Sharurah and blew themselves up after police surrounded them inside a government building. Two days later, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a set of pictures featuring scenes from the attack.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, appeared for the first time in a video, delivering a sermon at the Great Mosque in the city of Mosul in Iraq’s Ninawa province.