List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

This article is about modern conflicts in the Middle East. For ancient conflicts, see List of conflicts in the Near East. For an overview of these conflicts and their context, see History of the Middle East § Modern Middle East.

"Middle Eastern crisis" redirects here. For the ongoing series of conflicts, see Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present).

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Middle East
Countries (2018)	Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, North Cyprus*, Oman, Palestine*, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria (DFNS), Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
*Not a UN member

This is a list of modern conflicts ensuing in the geographic and political region known as the Middle East. The "Middle East" is traditionally defined as the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), Levant, and Egypt and neighboring areas of Arabia, Anatolia and Iran. It currently encompasses the area from Egypt, Turkey and Cyprus in the west to Iran and the Persian Gulf in the east,^[1] and from Turkey and Iran in the north, to Yemen and Oman in the south.

• Conflicts are separate incidents with at least 100 casualties, and are listed by total deaths, including sub-conflicts.^[2]
• The term "modern" refers to the First World War and later period, in other words, since 1914.

List of conflicts

Date	Conflict	Location	Casualties
1902–1932	Unification of Saudi Arabia[a]	Riyadh Hejaz Kuwait Nejd Transjordan Mandatory Iraq Nejd and Hejaz	8,000–9,000
1909–1910	Zaraniq rebellion	Ottoman Empire	830+
1914–1918	Middle Eastern theatre of World War I[p]	Ottoman Empire Persia Egypt Nejd and Hasa Jabal Shammar Kuwait Lahej Armenia Azerbaijan	Ottoman Empire deaths including civilians: 2,825,000[3][4][5]–5,000,000[6] Allied killed, wounded, captured or missing: 1,000,000–1,500,000 [citation needed] Persians died by famine or disease, excluding influenza: 2,000,000[7][8][9]
1918–1922	Simko Shikak revolt[10]	Persia	1,000–5,500
1919	Egyptian Revolution of 1919[11]	Egypt	3,000
1919–1923	Turkish War of Independence [b]	Ottoman Empire  Greece  Armenia  Soviet Union	882,100–2,075,600+
1919–2003	Iraqi–Kurdish conflict [c]	Mandatory Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Iraq Kingdom of Kurdistan	139,000–320,000 killed
1920	Franco-Syrian War	Arab Kingdom of Syria OETA	5,000
1920	Iraqi revolt against the British[12][13]	Mandatory Iraq	2,050–9,000
1921–1948[l]	Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine	Mandatory Palestine	7,813
1923	Adwan Rebellion	Transjordan	100
1925–1927	Great Syrian Revolt (Druze War)[14]	Greater Lebanon State of Syria Jabal Druze Alawite State	8,000–12,000
1925	Sheikh Said rebellion[15]	Turkey	15,000–250,500
1930	Ararat rebellion[16][17][18][19][20]	Turkey Republic of Ararat	4,500–47,000
1933	Simele massacre[21]	Kingdom of Iraq	3,000
1934	Saudi-Yemeni War[22]	Saudi Arabia  Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	2,100
1935	Imam Reza shrine rebellion[23]	Iran	151
1935–1936	1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts	Iraq	500
1935	1935 Yazidi revolt[21]	Iraq	200
1936	1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
1937	Dersim rebellion[24]	Turkey	40,000–70,000
1939–1945	Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II Italian invasion of Egypt Bombing of Bahrain in World War II Italian bombing of Mandatory Palestine in World War II Anglo-Iraqi War Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran	Iraq Iran French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon  Mandatory Palestine	≈16,000[citation needed]
1946	Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine
1946	Egyptian Student Riots[25][26]	Egypt	100–300
1946	Iran crisis of 1946[2][15][e]	Iran  Republic of Mahabad Azerbaijan People's Government	2,000
1948–	Arab–Israeli conflict[f]	Egypt All-Palestine Government  Egypt  United Arab Republic  Syrian Republic  Ba'athist Syria  Jordan  Lebanon  Israel  Palestinian Authority	73,000–84,000
1948	Alwaziri coup[2]	Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	4,000–5,000
1948	Al-Wathbah uprising	Iraq	300–400
1952	Egyptian revolution of 1952[2]	Egypt	1,000
1953	1953 Iranian coup d'état[2][15][27]	Iran	300–800
1954–1960	Jebel Akhdar War[15]	Muscat and Oman	100–523
1955–1959	Cyprus Emergency[28][29]	Cyprus	400–600
1956	Suez Crisis
1956–1960	Yemeni–Adenese clan violence[2]	Aden	1,000
1958	1958 Lebanon Crisis[2][11][29]	Lebanon	1,300–4,000
1958	1958 Iraqi Revolution[2]	Arab Federation	100
1959	1959 Mosul uprising[2]	Iraqi Republic	2,000–4,000
1962–1970	North Yemen Civil War[30][31][g]	North Yemen  Saudi Arabia  Egypt	100,000–200,000
1962–1975	Dhofar Rebellion[15]	Oman	10,000
1963	1963 Riots in Iran[15]	Iran	100
1963	February 1963 Ba'athist Iraqi coup[32]	Iraq	1,000
1963	8th of March Syrian Revolution[33]	United Arab Republic  Syria	820
1963–1967	Aden Emergency[34]	Federation of South Arabia  South Yemen	2,096
1963	November 1963 Iraqi coup[32]	Iraq	250
1964	1964 Hama riot[35][36]	Syria	70–100
1966	1966 neo-Ba'athist coup d'état in Syria[15]	Syria	400
1966	1966 Arif Abd ar-Razzaq second coup[37]	Iraq	80–100
1970–1971	Black September[29]	Jordan	2,000–25,000
1972	Yemenite War of 1972	South Yemen  North Yemen	100+
1974	Turkish invasion of Cyprus[22][38]	Cyprus	1,500–5,000
1974	Shatt al-Arab clashes[39]	Iran	1,000
1975–1990	Lebanese Civil War[40][h]	Lebanon	150,000
1976–1980	Political violence in Turkey (1976–1980)[41][42][43]	Turkey	5,000–5,388
1978–1982	NDF Rebellion	North Yemen	100+
1978–	Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)[44]	Turkey  Iraqi Kurdistan  Iraq	30,000–100,000
1979	Yemenite War of 1979	South Yemen  North Yemen	1,000+
1979	Iranian Revolution[45][46]	Iran	3,164–60,000
1979–1980	Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution [i]	Iran	10,171
1979–1983	Saudi Eastern Province unrest[47]	Saudi Arabia	182–219
1979	Grand Mosque seizure[48]	Saudi Arabia	307
1979–1982	Islamist uprising in Syria	Syria	40,000+
1980	1980 Turkish coup d'état[49][50]	Turkey	127–550
1980	1980 Sadr uprising[51]	Iraq	1,000–30,000
1980–1988	Iran–Iraq War[22][52][j]	Iran  Iraq  Kuwait	1,000,000–1,250,000
1986	South Yemen Civil War[53]	South Yemen	5,000–12,000
1986	1986 Egyptian Conscription Riot[54]	Egypt	107
1986	1986 Damascus bombings[55]	Syria	204
1987	Iranian pilgrim riot (Mecca massacre)[56]	Saudi Arabia	402
1987–1988	ANO Executions	Lebanon  Syria	170
1989–1996	KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)	Iran	168–503
1990–1991	Gulf War[40]	Iraq  Kuwait  Saudi Arabia	40,000–57,000
1991	1991 Iraqi uprisings[51][57]	Iraq	50,000–100,000
1994	1994 civil war in Yemen	Yemen	7,000–10,000
1995–	Islamic Insurgency in Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	300
1998	Operation Desert Fox[28][29] (Iraqi no-fly zones)	Iraq	2,000
1999	1999 Shia uprising in Iraq[15][58]	Iraq	100–200
2003–2011	Iraq War[59][60][61][62][63][64][k]	Ba'athist Iraq Iraq	109,032–650,726 See also: Casualties of the Iraq War
2004	Qamishli massacre (2004)[65][66]	Syria	30–100
2004–2014	Shia insurgency in Yemen[67][68][69]	Saudi Arabia  Yemen	8,500–25,000
2004–	Iran–PJAK conflict[70]	Iran	588–747
2006–	Fatah–Hamas conflict[71][72]	Palestinian Authority Gaza Strip	600+
2006	2006 Lebanon War	Lebanon  Israel	≈1600
2006–	Iran–Israel proxy conflict	Iran  Israel	≈2000
2007	Nahr al-Bared fighting	Lebanon	480
2008	2008 Lebanon conflict	Lebanon	105
2009–2015	South Yemen Insurgency[73]	Yemen	2,100+
2010–2015	Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown[74][75]	Yemen	3,000+
2011	2011 Bahraini uprising	Bahrain  Saudi Arabia	100+
2011–	Shia insurgency in Bahrain	Bahrain	22+
2011–2014	Egyptian crisis (2011–14)[m]	Egypt	7,000+
2011–	Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)[a]	Yemen	9,000+
2011–	Syrian civil war[n]	Syria	503,064–613,407 +
2011–2017	Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon	Lebanon	≈800
2011–	Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict	Saudi Arabia  Iran
2013–2017	War in Iraq (2013–2017)[n]	Iraq	155,500–165,500+
2015–	Yemeni Civil War[b] Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen	Yemen  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates	377,000+
2016–	Western Iran clashes	Iran	74–156
15–16 July 2016	2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt	Turkey	270–350
2017	2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict	Iraq	+305
2017–	Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)	Iraq	4,000+
2023–	Israel–Hamas war[c]	Israel  West Bank Gaza Strip	45,000+
2023–	Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)	Israel  Lebanon	2600+
2023–	Red Sea crisis	Yemen  Israel Red Sea Gulf of Aden	40+
2024–	2024 Iran–Israel conflict	Iran  Israel  Jordan  Syria  Iraq  Yemen  Lebanon	20+

Casualties breakdown

[a].^ Unification of Saudi Arabia (combined casualties 7,989–8,989+)

Battle of Riyadh (1902) – 37 killed.

Battle of Dilam (1903) – 410 killed.

Saudi–Rashidi War (1903–1907) – 2,300+ killed.

Annexation of Al-Hasa and Qatif (1913) – unknown.

Battle of Jarrab (1915) – unknown.

Battle of Kanzaan (1915) – unknown.

First Nejd–Hejaz War, 1918–1919 – 8,392+ killed^[15]

Kuwait–Najd War (1921) – 200^[15]–800 killed.

1921 Ikhwan raid on Iraq – 700 killed.

Conquest of Ha'il – unknown.

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan 1922–1924 – 500^[76]-1,500 killed.

Second Nejd–Hejaz War (1924–1925) – 450 killed.^[15]

Ikhwan Revolt (1927–1930) – 2,000 killed.^[15]

[p].^ Middle Eastern theatre of World War I (combined casualty figure 2,825,000–5,000,000) of:

• Caucasus campaign
• Persian campaign
• Gallipoli campaign
• Mesopotamian campaign
• Sinai and Palestine campaign
• Arab Revolt
• South Arabia
• Armenian genocide – c 1.5 million dead
• Assyrian genocide – 150,000–300,000 dead
• Great Famine of Mount Lebanon – 200,000 dead

[b].^ Turkish War of Independence (combined figure 882,100–2,075,600+):

Greco-Turkish War – 70,000^{[citation needed]}–400,000 casualties^{[40][verification needed]}

Franco-Turkish War – 40,000 casualties.^{[citation needed]}

Turkish–Armenian War – 60,000–432,500 casualties.^[77]

Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence - more than 27,082+ casualties^[d]

Turkish-Georgian War (Red Army invasion of Georgia)- 20,000 casualties.

665,000-1,156,000 Greek, Armenian, Turkish etc. civilian massacred during the war.^[78]

[c].^ Iraqi–Kurdish conflict (combined casualty figure 138,800–320,100) of:

Mahmud Barzanji revolts – unknown.

Ahmad Barzanji revolt (1931) – unknown.

1943 Iraqi Kurdish revolt (1943) – unknown.

First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1961–1970) – 75,000–105,000 killed.^[30][40]

Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–1975) – 9,000 killed.^[79]
600,000 displaced^[80][81]

PUK insurgency (1976–1978) – 800 killed.

Iraqi Kurdish uprising (1982–1988) – 50,000–198,000 killed.

1991 Uprising in As Sulaymaniyah – 700–2,000 killed.

Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1994–1997) – 3,000^[82]–5,000 killed.

2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq – several hundred killed (≈300) on the Kurdish front, at least 24 Peshmerga soldiers killed.

[d].^ Middle Eastern theatre of World War II (combined casualty figure 12,338–14,898+) of:

Anglo-Iraqi War – at least 560 killed.^[83][84]

Farhud 175–780 killed.

Syria–Lebanon Campaign 10,404–12,964 killed.

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 100^[15] – 1,062 killed.

Bombing of Palestine in World War II 137 deaths.^[85]

Bombing of Bahrain in World War II – unknown.

[e].^ Iran crisis of 1946 (combined casualty figure 1,921+):

Azerbaijan People's Republic crisis – 421 killed.^[86]

Republic of Mahabad crisis – ≈1,000 killed.^{[citation needed]}

Civil interregnum – 500 killed.^[87]

[f].^ Arab–Israeli conflict (combined casualty figure 76,338–87,338+):

Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949) – 14,400 casualties.

Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency and Retribution operations (1950s) – 3,456 casualties

Suez War (1956) – 3,203 killed.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict (1965–present) – 24,000 killed

Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon – 2,600–20,000 killed

Operation Litani

1982 Lebanon War

First Palestinian Intifada – 2,000 killed

Al-Aqsa Intifada – 7,000 killed

Gaza–Israel conflict – 3,500+ killed

Six-Day War (1967) – 13,976 killed.

War of Attrition (1967–1970) – 6,403 killed.

Yom Kippur War (1973) 10,000–21,000.^[88]

[g].^ North Yemen Civil War (combined 100,000–200,000 casualties):

1962 Coup d'état

Ramadan offensive

Haradh offensive

1965 Royalist offensive

Siege of Sana'a (1967)

[h].^ Lebanese Civil War (combined 39,132–43,970+ mortal casualties):

Bus massacre – 27 killed.

Hundred Days' War – 160 killed.

Karantina massacre – 1,000–1,500 killed.

Damour massacre – 684 killed.

Battle of the Hotels – 700 killed.

Black Saturday (Lebanon) – 200–600 killed.

Tel al-Zaatar massacre – 1,778–3,278 killed.

1982 Lebanon War – 28,280 killed.

Sabra and Shatila massacre – 762–3,500 killed.

War of the Camps (1986–1987) – 3,781 killed.

Mountain War – 1,600 killed.

War of Liberation (1989–1990) – unknown.

October 13 massacre – 500–700 killed, 260 civilians massacred.

[i].^ Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution (combined fatalities count 12,000):

1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran – 10,171+ killed and executed.^[89][90]

1979 Khuzestan uprising – 112+ killed.

1979 Khorasan uprising – unknown.

1979 Azeri uprising – unknown.

1979 Baluchistan uprising – 50 killed.

Iran hostage crisis – 9 killed.

1979–1980 Tehran clashes – unknown.

[j].^ Iran–Iraq War (combined death count 645,000–823,000+):

Iraqi invasion 1980

Mujahedin al-Halq uprising 1981–1982

Liberation of Khorramshahr 1982 – 17,000 killed

Operation Undeniable Victory 1982 – 50,000 mortal casualties

Operation Ramadan 1982 – 80,000 killed

Kurdish Rebellion 1983–1988 (including the Al-Anfal Campaign) 50,000–198,000 killed

Operation Before the Dawn 1983 – 6,000+ killed

Operation Dawn 3 – 162,000 killed

Operation Dawn 5 1984 – 50,000 killed

Operation Dawn 6 1984 – unknown

Operation Khaibar 1984 – 49,000 killed

Tanker War 1984

Operation Badr (1985) – 30,000–32,000

War of the Cities 1985–1987

Operation Dawn-8 1986 – unknown

Operation Karbala-4 1986 – 15,000 killed

Operation Karbala-5 – 85,000 killed

Operation Nasr 4 – unknown

Operation Karbala-10 – unknown

Operation Mersad 1987 – 4,900 killed

1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners 2,000^[91] – 30,000 executed

[k].^ Iraq War 2003–2011 (combined casualty figure of 192,361–226,056+):

2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq – 35,000 killed

Iraqi insurgency (2003–06) – 15,000 killed

Civil war in Iraq 2006–2008 – 30,000–40,000 killed

Iraqi insurgency (2008–2011) – 5,000–10,000 killed

Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq – ≈1,000 killed

Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal) – 54,000+ killed

War in Iraq (2013–2017) – 53,361–72,056 killed

[l].^ Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine (combined casualties 7,813)

1921 Jaffa riots – 95 killed

1929 Palestine riots – 251 killed.^[92][93]

1933 Palestine riots – 20 killed.^[94]

Arab Revolt in Palestine – 5,000 killed.^[28]

Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–47) – 338 British^[95] and around 100 Palestinian Jews killed.

1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine – 2,009 killed by 1 April 1948.^[96]

[m].^ Egyptian Crisis (combined casualties 5,000+)

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 – 846 killed

Sinai insurgency – 2,800+ killed

[n].^ Syrian civil war (combined casualties 503,064–613,407)

• Civil uprising phase of the Syrian civil war –
• Early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war –
• 2012–13 escalation of the Syrian civil war –
• Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian civil war – 5,641–6,991 killed
• ISIL expansion
• Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war
  • US-led intervention in the Syrian civil war
  • Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war
• Battle of Aleppo and Operation Euphrates Shield
• Eastern Syria campaign (September–December 2017)
• Idlib demilitarization (2018–present)
• Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019) and 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria

[o].^ Iran–Israel proxy conflict (combined casualties ≈2,000)

• 2006 Lebanon War – 1,641 killed
• Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war – several dozen killed

See also

• Current events portal
• Politics portal

• Arab Spring
• British foreign policy in the Middle East
• List of Middle East peace proposals

• Lists of wars in World (by date, region, type of conflict)
  • Lists of wars and conflict by region
    • Lists of battles (Orders)
  • List of active rebel groups
    • List of rebel groups that control territory
  • List of number of conflicts per year
    • List of battles by casualties
• Africa :
  • List of conflicts in Africa (Military history of Africa)
    • List of modern conflicts in North Africa (Maghreb)
    • Conflicts in the Horn of Africa (East region)
• Americas :
  • List of conflicts in North America
    • List of wars involving the United States
  • List of conflicts in Central America
  • List of conflicts in South America
• Asia :
  • List of conflicts in Asia
  • List of conflicts in the Near East (pre-modern)
    • List of conflicts in the Land of Israel
• Europe :
  • List of conflicts in Europe
    • Post-Cold War European conflicts
• Ongoing conflicts in World :
  • List of ongoing armed conflicts
  • List of wars: 2003–present
    • Ongoing military conflicts

Notes

1. See Outline of the Yemeni Crisis, revolution, and civil war (2011-present) for further articles.
2. See Outline of the Yemeni Crisis, revolution, and civil war (2011-present) for further articles.
3. See Outline of the Gaza war for further articles.
4. Those casualties are only included Pontic uprising, Koçgiri rebellion and Revolt of Ahmet Anzavur.