List of conflicts in the Near East

There have been many conflicts in the Middle East since the time of the ancient Near East up until modern times.

Ancient conflicts

Battle of Kadesh

Persian conquests

Greco-Persian Wars

Macedonian conquests

Roman-Persian Wars

Medieval conflicts

Arab conquests

Crusades

Byzantine-Seljuk Wars

Byzantine-Ottoman Wars

Mongol invasions

Timur’s conquests

Ottoman-Habsburg Wars

Ottoman–Persian Wars

Modern conflicts

During the 20th and 21st centuries, there have been a number of conflicts in the Middle East.

Jordan-Syria tensions

As part of the broader tensions between monarchical, pro-Western governments and Nasserite, socialist governments, the Syrian governments of the sixties were opposed to the Jordanian monarchy; in 1960, the assassination of the Jordanian prime minister Hazza al-Majali was blamed on Syria (at the time, the United Arab Republic.) Tensions increased further after King Hussein ended official support for the PLO in 1966; in September 1970, a Syrian military unit crossed into Jordan to aid the PLO against the Jordanian army (see Black September in Jordan). The Syrian force was repulsed, but relations remained tense and were severed in July 1971. In 1975, Jordan and Syria attempted to put aside past hostilities between them and create a new alliance. In 1979, King Hussein of Jordan proposed an alternative to the Camp David accords to which Hafez al-Assad of Syria strongly objected; this marked the beginning of a rapid deterioration in Jordanian-Syrian relations. In 1979 Syria accused the Kingdom of Jordan of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood's attacks against Assad's government. Since then the tensions have dissipated and now relations between the two countries are normal.

Black September

PLO-Jordanian government war in September 1970.
PLO militia attempt to overthrow current Hashemite government through armed force.
Conflict results in heavy Palestinian casualties and ban on Palestinians joining Jordanian army.

North Yemen Civil War

(1962–1970) The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen received support from Saudi Arabia, while the Yemen Arab Republic was supported by Egypt. Both foreign irregular and conventional forces were also involved. The Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, supported the republicans with as many as 70,000 troops.

The Cyprus dispute

The Cyprus dispute is a territorial conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and also Republic of Cyprus and Turkey over Cyprus, an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Since the arrival of the British on the island of Cyprus, the "Cyprus Dispute" was identified as the conflict between the peoples of Cyprus and Great Britain as a colonial ruler. The core of the dispute was Cypriots demand for self determination. Britain shifted the "Cyprus Dispute" from a colonial dispute to a dispute between Turks and Greeks^[1] although Britain had denounced the agreement between herself and Turkey over Cyprus, and declared Cyprus as a British colony. Today, the problem has involved Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom, the USA, the United Nations and recently the European Union. Since 1974 the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus has been divided. The dividing line which cuts across the country has created a physical and social barrier between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot Communities. The Turkish Cypriot community declared itself Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, condemned by UN Security Council Resolutions as legally invalid. Currently it is only recognised by Turkey.

Lebanese civil war

(1975–1990) Because of religious and ethnic tensions, the country became socially unstable. Interference from the outside, mainly Western, exacerbated the situation and caused a civil war. The civil war spanned over two decades and grabbed the attention of the world through abductions of Westerners. Ultimately the United Nations decided to intervene. By trial and error the situation ultimately got under control, but tensions still rest in the Lebanese society, and although the war ended, the risk of civil war is still present.

Libya-Egypt conflict

Following Egypt's first negotiations with Israel in 1973, Libya became hostile to Egypt. In 1977, not long after demonstrators in the two countries attacked each other's consulates, the two countries fought a four-day war (July 21-July 24) during which several Libyan aircraft were destroyed on the ground. As a counter attack, Libyan combat aircraft attacked, hitting the Egyptian base Marsa Matruh and other targets near the border. The war ended with a peace treaty signed with Egypt and Libya to unite in a war effort against Arab Extremists.

Iraq-Kuwait clashes

Kuwait and Iraq had a serious territorial dispute that led to armed warfare in 1973 and again in 1976. Iraq wanted Kuwait's oil and ports, and argued that Kuwait was rightfully theirs due to pre-British imperial boundaries. In 1990 Iraq occupied Kuwait, but was expelled in 1991.

April 1967 Iraq-Kuwait conflict in Al-Ratqa, Kuwait
March 1973 Iraq-Kuwait conflict in Al-Sameta, Kuwait
1976 Iraq-Kuwait conflict in Al-Sameta, Kuwait
1990-1991 The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq (Gulf War)

The Iran–Iraq War

Sometimes called the First Persian Gulf War. In this war Syria entered on the side of Iran, against Iraq, with aid and supplies. All other Arab countries except for Libya, the United States and Western World, as well as the USSR and Warsaw pact supported Iraq, imposing embargoes on Iran. The war ended after 8 years, when after Iraq, Iran accepted a resolution of the UN asking for the halt of military activities. The frontiers were re-established to those before the war.

Gulf War and aftermath

1990-1991 Gulf War

During the Gulf War, a United Nations force led by the United States restored Kuwaiti sovereignty after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Between the 1991 and 2003 wars, the US, UK, and (until 1996) France continued to enforce no-fly zones over large areas of Iraq, to protect Shiite and Kurdish Iraqis from air attacks by the Iraqi government. Many people of Iraq and other countries considered this to be a continuous invasion of Iraqi airspace, and thus, one war from 1991-2003. The United Nations ran a maritime blockade Iraq's Persian Gulf oil ports between the two wars, to enforce sanctions in response to Iraq's refusal to comply fully with UN inspections, to verify that it no longer had weapons of mass destruction. Some of the engagements included:

Iraq War

2003-present Iraq War

In 2003, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded and occupied Iraq after a dispute over the status of the Iraqi Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons programs. This war is sometimes known as the Second Gulf War.

Fatah al-Islam and Nahr al-Bared

In May 2007, a skirmish between Fatah al-Islam, an Islamist group, and the Lebanese Army evolved into a three-month siege of the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr al-Bared in which more than 400 people died.

References

^ Anthony Eden, “Memoirs, Full Circle, Cassell, London 1960

v t e List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
1910s	Italo-Turkish War World War I Middle Eastern theatre Battle of Robat Karim Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt 1919 Egyptian revolution Turkish War of Independence Anglo-Turkish War Al-Jazeera Front Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts United States Mahmud Barzanji revolts
1920s	Franco-Syrian War Iraqi Revolt (1920) Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion
1930s	Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Dersim rebellion
1940s	World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Allied invasion of Iraq Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Alwaziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1948 Arab–Israeli War Suez Crisis 1967 Six-Day War 1973 Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War
1950s	1952 Egyptian revolution 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising
1960s	Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen civil war Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1948 Palestine war First Intifada Second Intifada 1966 Syrian coup d'état
1970s	Black September in Jordan Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq
1980s	Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen civil war 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings 1987 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions
1990s	Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 Iraqi uprisings Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
2000s	Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency
2010s	2011 Bahraini uprising Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni crisis Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
2020s	2021 Beirut clashes Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Red Sea crisis
This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold.