List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

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, 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.
The term "modern" refers to the First World War and later period, in other words, since 1914.

Middle East

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

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: 2,825,000–5,000,000 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
1918–1922	Simko Shikak revolt	Persia	1,000–5,500
1919	1919 Egyptian revolution	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	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)	Greater Lebanon State of Syria Jabal Druze Alawite State	8,000–12,000
1925	Sheikh Said rebellion	Turkey	15,000–250,500
1930	Ararat rebellion	Turkey Republic of Ararat	4,500–47,000
1933	Simele massacre	Kingdom of Iraq	3,000
1934	Saudi–Yemeni war (1934)	Saudi Arabia Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	2,100
1935	Goharshad Mosque rebellion	Iran	151
1935–1936	1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts	Iraq	500
1935	1935 Yazidi revolt	Iraq	200
1936	1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
1937	Dersim rebellion	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	Egypt	100–300
1946	Iran crisis of 1946^[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	Al-Waziri coup	Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	4,000–5,000
1948	Al-Wathbah uprising	Iraq	300–400
1952	1952 Egyptian revolution	Egypt	1,000
1953	1953 Iranian coup d'état	Iran	300–800
1954–1960	Jebel Akhdar War	Muscat and Oman	100–523
1955–1959	Cyprus Emergency	Cyprus	400–600
1956	Suez Crisis
1956–1960	Yemeni–Adenese clan violence	Aden	1,000
1958	1958 Lebanon Crisis	Lebanon	1,300–4,000
1958	1958 Iraqi Revolution	Arab Federation	100
1959	1959 Mosul uprising	Iraqi Republic	2,000–4,000
1962–1970	North Yemen civil war^[g]	North Yemen Saudi Arabia Egypt	100,000–200,000
1962–1975	Dhofar War	Oman	10,000
1963	1963 Riots in Iran	Iran	100
1963	Ramadan Revolution	Iraq	1,000
1963	1963 Syrian coup d'état	United Arab Republic Syria	820
1963–1967	Aden Emergency	Federation of South Arabia South Yemen	2,096
1963	November 1963 Iraqi coup	Iraq	250
1964	1964 Hama riot	Syria	70–100
1966	1966 neo-Ba'athist coup d'état in Syria	Syria	400
1966	1966 Arif Abd ar-Razzaq second coup	Iraq	80–100
1967	Six-Day War	Israel Egypt Syria Jordan	19,700
1970–1971	Black September	Jordan	2,000–25,000
1972	Yemenite War of 1972	South Yemen North Yemen	100+
1973	Yom Kippur War	Israel Egypt Syria	20,500
1974	Turkish invasion of Cyprus	Cyprus	1,500–5,000
1974	Shatt al-Arab clashes	Iran	1,000
1975–1990	Lebanese Civil War^[h]	Lebanon	150,000
1976–1980	Political violence in Turkey (1976–1980)	Turkey	5,000–5,388
1978–1982	NDF Rebellion	North Yemen	100+
1978–2025	Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency	Turkey Iraqi Kurdistan Iraq	30,000–100,000
1979	Second Yemenite War	South Yemen North Yemen	1,000+
1979	Iranian Revolution	Iran	3,164–60,000
1979–1980	Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution^[i]	Iran	10,171
1979–1983	Saudi Eastern Province unrest	Saudi Arabia	182–219
1979	Grand Mosque seizure	Saudi Arabia	307
1979–1982	Islamist uprising in Syria	Syria	40,000+
1980	1980 Turkish coup d'état	Turkey	127–550
1980	1980 Sadr uprising	Iraq	1,000–30,000
1980–1988	Iran–Iraq War^[j]	Iran Iraq Kuwait	1,000,000–1,250,000
1986	South Yemen Civil War	South Yemen	5,000–12,000
1986	1986 Egyptian Conscription Riot	Egypt	107
1986	1986 Damascus bombings	Syria	204
1987	Iranian pilgrim riot (Mecca massacre)	Saudi Arabia	402
1987–1988	ANO Executions	Lebanon Syria	170
1989–1996	KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)	Iran	168–503
1990–1991	Gulf War	Iraq Kuwait Saudi Arabia	40,000–57,000
1991	1991 Iraqi uprisings	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	Bombing of Iraq (December 1998) (Iraqi no-fly zones)	Iraq	2,000
1999	1999 Shia uprising in Iraq	Iraq	100–200
2003–2011	Iraq War^[k]	Ba'athist Iraq Iraq	460,000–1,033,000 See also: Casualties of the Iraq War
2004	Qamishli massacre (2004)	Syria	30–100
2004–2014	Shia insurgency in Yemen	Saudi Arabia Yemen	8,500–25,000
2004–	Iran–PJAK conflict	Iran	588–747
2006–	Fatah–Hamas conflict	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	Yemen	2,100+
2010–2015	Yemeni al-Qaeda crackdown	Yemen	3,000+
2011	2011 Bahraini uprising	Bahrain Saudi Arabia	100+
2011–	Insurgency in Bahrain	Bahrain	22+
2011–2014	Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014)^[m]	Egypt	7,000+
2011–	Yemeni crisis	Yemen	9,000+
2011–2024	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+
2014–	Yemeni civil war Saudi-led intervention in Yemen (2015)	Yemen Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates	377,000+
2016–	Western Iran clashes	Iran	74–156
15–16 July 2016	2016 Turkish coup attempt	Turkey	270–350
2017	2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict	Iraq	+305
2017–	Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present)	Iraq	4,000+
2023–	Gaza war	Israel West Bank Gaza Strip	85,000+
2023–	Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon	Israel Lebanon	2600+
2023–	Red Sea crisis	Yemen Israel	40+
2024	2024 Iran–Israel conflict	Iran Israel Jordan Syria Iraq Yemen Lebanon	20+
2025	Iran-Israel war	Iran Israel	1,100+

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.

First 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

Kuwait–Najd War (1921) – 200–800 killed.

1921 Ikhwan raid on Iraq – 700 killed.

Conquest of Ha'il – unknown.

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan 1922–1924 – 500-1,500 killed.

Second Nejd–Hejaz War (1924–1925) – 450 killed.

Ikhwan revolt (1927–1930) – 2,000 killed.

[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
Sayfo – 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

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

Turkish–Armenian War – 60,000–432,500 casualties.

Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence - more than 27,082+ casualties

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.

[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.

Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–1975) – 9,000 killed.
600,000 displaced

PUK insurgency (1976–1978) – 800 killed.

1983–1986 Kurdish rebellions in Iraq – 50,000–198,000 killed.

Battle of Sulaymaniyah (1991) – 700–2,000 killed.

Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1994–1997) – 3,000–5,000 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.

Farhud 175–780 killed.

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

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 100 – 1,062 killed.

Bombing of Palestine in World War II 137 deaths.

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.

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

Civil interregnum – 500 killed.

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

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

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

Suez Crisis (1956) – 3,203 killed.

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

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

1978 South Lebanon conflict

1982 Lebanon War

First Intifada – 2,000 killed

Second 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.

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

1962 Coup d'état

Ramadan offensive

Haradh offensive

1965 Royalist offensive

Siege of Sanaa (1967)

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

1975 Beirut 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.

1979 Khuzestan insurgency – 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

Battle of Khorramshahr (1982) – 17,000 killed

Operation Fath ol-Mobin 1982 – 50,000 mortal casualties

Operation Ramadan 1982 – 80,000 killed

1983–1986 Kurdish rebellion in Iraq (including the 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 Kheibar 1984 – 49,000 killed

Tanker War 1984

Operation Badr (1985) – 30,000–32,000

War of the Cities 1985–1987

First Battle of al-Faw 1986 – unknown

Operation Karbala-4 1986 – 15,000 killed

Siege of Basra – 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 – 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.

1933 Palestine riots – 20 killed.

Arab Revolt in Palestine – 5,000 killed.

Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine (1944–47) – 338 British and around 100 Palestinian Jews killed.

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

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

2011 Egyptian revolution – 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 –
2012–2013 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 intervention in the Syrian civil war
- Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war
Battle of Aleppo and Operation Euphrates Shield
Eastern Syria campaign
Idlib demilitarization (2018–2019)
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

List of conflicts

Casualties breakdown

See also