List of wars involving Syria

This is a list of wars involving Syria since independence, including periods of the Arab Kingdom of Syria (1920), Mandatory Syrian Republic (1930–1946), Second Syrian Republic (1946–1958, 1961–1963), United Arab Republic (1958–1961), Ba'athist Syria (1963–2024), and Syria (2024–present).

Conflict	Syria and allies	Opponents	Outcome	Head of State
Franco-Syrian War (1920)	Kingdom of Syria Arab militias	French Third Republic West Africa	French victory Establishment of French Syria King Faisal expelled to Iraq Dissolution of the Arab Kingdom of Syria	King Faisal
Great Syrian Revolt (1925–1927)	Syrian rebels Sunnis Druze Alawites	France Syria Lebanon	French victory Revolt crushed	None^[1]
Levant Crisis (1945)	United Kingdom Syria	France	Victory British-enforced ceasefire French withdrawal from the Levant Syria and Lebanon gain full independence	Shukri al-Quwatli
First Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949)	Arab League: Egypt^[2] All-Palestine Protectorate^[a] Holy War Army^[a] Transjordan^[2] Iraq Syria Lebanon^[b] Saudi Arabia^[4] Yemen^[5] Irregulars: Arab Liberation Army Al-Najjada Holy War Army	Israel Before 26 May 1948: Yishuv Paramilitary groups: Haganah Palmach Hish Him Irgun Lehi Allied Bedouin tribes^[6]^[7] After 26 May 1948: Israel Defense Forces Minorities Unit Foreign volunteers: Mahal	Defeat Establishment of the State of Israel, Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight Beginning of the Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency	Shukri al-Quwatli
First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1963–1970)	Before 1968: Iraq Syria (1963) Supported by: United States (from 1963)^[8]^[9] After 1968: Ba'athist Iraq	KDP Supported by: Iran^[10] Israel United States (alleged)	Military stalemate Several Iraqi offensives intended to suppress the Kurdish rebellion fail^[11]^[12] Iraqi–Kurdish Autonomy Agreement Arabization program continued Second Iraqi–Kurdish War in 1974	Lu'ay al-Atassi
Six-Day War (1967)	United Arab Republic Syria Jordan Iraq Lebanon	Israel	Defeat Israel captured the Gaza Strip, Sinai, the West Bank and the Golan Heights	Nureddin al-Atassi
Syrian invasion of Jordan (1970)	Syria PLO	Jordan	Defeat Syrian invasion repelled by Jordan PLO expelled to Lebanon following Black September	Nureddin al-Atassi
October War (1973)	Egypt Syria Iraq Jordan Algeria Morocco Saudi Arabia Cuba	Israel	Defeat^[13] UN ceasefire Geneva Conference and the Sinai II Agreement Strategic political gains for Egypt and Israel	Hafez al-Assad
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990)	Syria ADF (until 1979) Saudi Arabia Sudan United Arab Emirates Libya South Yemen LF (until 1976) LNM (from 1976) Jammoul PLO (1978–83) Amal Hezbollah Iran Al-Tawhid	LNM (until 1976) PLO (1976 and 1985) LF SLA Israel United States France Italy United Kingdom Hezbollah (1987)	Victory Syrian occupation of Lebanon until 2005 Taif Agreement Disarmament of Lebanese militias and Maronite influence in politics decreased Israeli occupation of South Lebanon until 2000
Islamist uprising in Syria (1979–1982)	Syria Supported by: Soviet Union^[14]^[15]	Fighting Vanguard^[16]^[17] Muslim Brotherhood (after mid-1979)^[18]^[19] Pro-Iraqi Ba'athists^[20] Supported by: Iraq (1980–1982) Jordan^[21]^[22] West Germany^[23]	Syrian government victory Uprising suppressed Muslim Brotherhood outlawed
Gulf War (1990–1991)	Kuwait United States United Kingdom Saudi Arabia France Canada Egypt Syria Oman Pakistan United Arab Emirates Qatar Australia	Iraq	Victory Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah restored Heavy casualties and destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti infrastructure
Syrian civil war (2011–2024, first phase)	Syria Iraq (2017–19) Russia Hezbollah Iran	Syrian Opposition Turkey Ahrar al-Sham Tahrir al-Sham ISIL Northern Syria CJTF–OIR United States Canada United Kingdom France Germany Saudi Arabia Qatar Jordan Bahrain United Arab Emirates Morocco Australia Netherlands Belgium Denmark Norway	Opposition victory Countrywide civil war American-led intervention against ISIL and Tahrir al-Sham Russian intervention against ISIL and the Syrian opposition Turkish operation against SDF and the Syrian government Fall of the Assad regime in 2024		Bashar al-Assad
Syrian civil war (2024–present, second phase)	Syria Northern Syria	Assad loyalists and Neo-Ba'athist insurgents Hezbollah Israel ISIL	Ongoing Israeli intervention against the Ba'athist remnants and the Syrian government Clashes between the Assad loyalists and Hezbollah against the Syrian government alongside with spillovers near the Lebanese border	Ahmed al-Sharaa

Notes

^ ^a ^b After 22 September 1948
^ Lebanon had decided to not participate in the war and only took part in the battle of al-Malikiya on 5–6 June 1948.^[3]

References

^ The revolt was effectively led by Sultan al-Atrash
^ ^a ^b Oren 2003, p. 5.
^ Morris (2008), p. 260.
^ Gelber, pp. 55, 200, 239
^ Morris, Benny (2008), 1948: The First Arab-Israeli War, Yale University Press, p. 205, New Haven, ISBN 978-0-300-12696-9.
^ Palestine Post, "Israel's Bedouin Warriors", Gene Dison, August 12, 1948
^ AFP (24 April 2013). "Bedouin army trackers scale Israel social ladder". Al Arabiya English. Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, B. (2015). "Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'etat in Baghdad". Diplomatic History. 39 (1): 98–125. doi:10.1093/dh/dht121. ISSN 0145-2096. Despite massive political, economic, and military aid to the fledgling Ba'thist government—including the provision of napalm weapons to assist the regime in what the Embassy regarded as a 'genocidal' counterinsurgency campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan—the first Ba'thist regime in Iraq proved 'not long for this world,' in the words of a rather gleeful British Ambassador. The Ba'th presided over a nine-month reign of terror, and the scale of the party's brutality shocked Iraqi sensibilities. Moreover, the Ba'th's association—in the public mind—with the American CIA only hastened its demise. In mid-November 1963, less than nine months after taking power, the Ba'th's rivals in the Iraqi Army deposed the Ba'th and rejoined Qasim's challenge to the IPC.
^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9. As the IPC moved in opposition to Qasim, Israeli and Iranian covert assistance began to pour into Iraqi Kurdistan... Kurdish representatives reached out to the US embassy for the same... Available documentation does not prove conclusively that the United States provided covert assistance to the Kurds in the fall of 1962, but the documents that have been declassified are certainly suggestive—especially in light of the general US policy orientation toward Iraq during this period.
^ O'Ballance, Edgar (1973). The Kurdish Revolt, 1961–1970. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-09905-X.
^ Pollack, Kenneth M. (2002). Arabs at War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3733-2.
^
References:
- Herzog, The War of Atonement, Little, Brown and Company, 1975. Forward
- Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, Yom Kippur War, Doubleday and Company, Inc, 1974, page 450
- Luttwak and Horowitz, The Israeli Army. Cambridge, MA, Abt Books, 1983
- Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books, 2004. Page 498
- 0-313-31302-4&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false Revisiting The Yom Kippur War, P.R. Kumaraswamy, pages 1–2
- Johnson and Tierney, Failing To Win, Perception of Victory and Defeat in International Politics. Page 177
- Charles Liebman, The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur war in Israeli Society^{[permanent dead link]} Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 29, No. 3, July 1993. Published by Frank Cass, London. Page 411.
^ Nina Wiedl, Kathrin (2006). The Hama Massacre – reasons, supporters of the rebellion, consequences. GRIN Verlag. pp. 3–34. ISBN 978-3-638-56770-1.
^ "Like Father, Like Son – Tyranny in Syria, A Massacre in Hama". Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.
^ Lefèvre 2013, pp. 100–101.
^ Conduit 2019, p. 34.
^ Conduit 2019, p. 35.
^ Lefèvre 2013, p. 110.
^ "The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood". Cablegate. 26 February 1985. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
^ Milton Edwards, Beverly; Hinchcliffe, Peter (2001). "4: International Relations". Jordan: A Hashemite Legacy. New York, USA: Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 0-415-26726-9.
^ Conduit 2019, pp. 138–141.
^ Nina Wiedl, Kathrin (2006). The Hama Massacre – reasons, supporters of the rebellion, consequences. GRIN Verlag. pp. 26–31. ISBN 978-3-638-56770-1. Another reason for West Germany to oppose Asad [sic] was his involvement in international terrorism, such as the RAF (Baader Meinhof Gang) clique and the "Movement 2nd of June – Tupamaros West Berlin"... West Germany, as an ally in the anti-Soviet camp, had a reason to support the Brotherhood in Syria and to provide them a safe exile in Germany as a place from where they could continue their attempts to overthrow Asad [sic], in order to weaken the Soviet bloc... Three ways how West Germany supported the Syrian Brotherhood.. It provided asylum and a save haven from where the exile-brotherhood could organise its struggle against Asad [sic], it protected them against attacks of Syrian intelligence, and West German newspapers reported about the Hama incident in a way that supported the aims of the Brotherhood.

Sources

Conduit, Dara (2019). The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-49977-4.
Lefèvre, Raphaël (2013). Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-933062-1.

[sept-3] After 22 September 1948

[5] Lebanon had decided to not participate in the war and only took part in the battle of al-Malikiya on 5–6 June 1948.^[3]

[1] The revolt was effectively led by Sultan al-Atrash

[Oren-2] Oren 2003, p. 5.

[4] Morris (2008), p. 260.

[6] Gelber, pp. 55, 200, 239

[Morris,_2008,_p._205-7] Morris, Benny (2008), 1948: The First Arab-Israeli War, Yale University Press, p. 205, New Haven, ISBN 978-0-300-12696-9.

[8] Palestine Post, "Israel's Bedouin Warriors", Gene Dison, August 12, 1948

[9] AFP (24 April 2013). "Bedouin army trackers scale Israel social ladder". Al Arabiya English. Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2015.

[10] Wolfe-Hunnicutt, B. (2015). "Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'etat in Baghdad". Diplomatic History. 39 (1): 98–125. doi:10.1093/dh/dht121. ISSN 0145-2096. Despite massive political, economic, and military aid to the fledgling Ba'thist government—including the provision of napalm weapons to assist the regime in what the Embassy regarded as a 'genocidal' counterinsurgency campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan—the first Ba'thist regime in Iraq proved 'not long for this world,' in the words of a rather gleeful British Ambassador. The Ba'th presided over a nine-month reign of terror, and the scale of the party's brutality shocked Iraqi sensibilities. Moreover, the Ba'th's association—in the public mind—with the American CIA only hastened its demise. In mid-November 1963, less than nine months after taking power, the Ba'th's rivals in the Iraqi Army deposed the Ba'th and rejoined Qasim's challenge to the IPC.

[11] Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.

[Wolfe-Hunnicutt_2021-12] Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9. As the IPC moved in opposition to Qasim, Israeli and Iranian covert assistance began to pour into Iraqi Kurdistan... Kurdish representatives reached out to the US embassy for the same... Available documentation does not prove conclusively that the United States provided covert assistance to the Kurds in the fall of 1962, but the documents that have been declassified are certainly suggestive—especially in light of the general US policy orientation toward Iraq during this period.

[O'Ballance-13] O'Ballance, Edgar (1973). The Kurdish Revolt, 1961–1970. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-09905-X.

[Pollack-14] Pollack, Kenneth M. (2002). Arabs at War. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-3733-2.

[15] References:
Herzog, The War of Atonement, Little, Brown and Company, 1975. Forward

Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, Yom Kippur War, Doubleday and Company, Inc, 1974, page 450

Luttwak and Horowitz, The Israeli Army. Cambridge, MA, Abt Books, 1983

Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books, 2004. Page 498

0-313-31302-4&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false Revisiting The Yom Kippur War, P.R. Kumaraswamy, pages 1–2

Johnson and Tierney, Failing To Win, Perception of Victory and Defeat in International Politics. Page 177

Charles Liebman, The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur war in Israeli Society^{[permanent dead link]} Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 29, No. 3, July 1993. Published by Frank Cass, London. Page 411.

[16] Herzog, The War of Atonement, Little, Brown and Company, 1975. Forward

[17] Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, Yom Kippur War, Doubleday and Company, Inc, 1974, page 450

[18] Luttwak and Horowitz, The Israeli Army. Cambridge, MA, Abt Books, 1983

[19] Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books, 2004. Page 498

[20] 0-313-31302-4&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false Revisiting The Yom Kippur War, P.R. Kumaraswamy, pages 1–2

[21] Johnson and Tierney, Failing To Win, Perception of Victory and Defeat in International Politics. Page 177

[22] Charles Liebman, The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur war in Israeli Society^{[permanent dead link]} Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 29, No. 3, July 1993. Published by Frank Cass, London. Page 411.

[16] Nina Wiedl, Kathrin (2006). The Hama Massacre – reasons, supporters of the rebellion, consequences. GRIN Verlag. pp. 3–34. ISBN 978-3-638-56770-1.

[adst.org-17] "Like Father, Like Son – Tyranny in Syria, A Massacre in Hama". Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016.

[FOOTNOTELefèvre2013100–101-18] Lefèvre 2013, pp. 100–101.

[FOOTNOTEConduit201934-19] Conduit 2019, p. 34.

[FOOTNOTEConduit201935-20] Conduit 2019, p. 35.

[FOOTNOTELefèvre2013110-21] Lefèvre 2013, p. 110.

[The_Syrian_Muslim_Brotherhood-22] "The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood". Cablegate. 26 February 1985. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

[23] Milton Edwards, Beverly; Hinchcliffe, Peter (2001). "4: International Relations". Jordan: A Hashemite Legacy. New York, USA: Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 0-415-26726-9.

[FOOTNOTEConduit2019138–141-24] Conduit 2019, pp. 138–141.

[25] Nina Wiedl, Kathrin (2006). The Hama Massacre – reasons, supporters of the rebellion, consequences. GRIN Verlag. pp. 26–31. ISBN 978-3-638-56770-1. Another reason for West Germany to oppose Asad [sic] was his involvement in international terrorism, such as the RAF (Baader Meinhof Gang) clique and the "Movement 2nd of June – Tupamaros West Berlin"... West Germany, as an ally in the anti-Soviet camp, had a reason to support the Brotherhood in Syria and to provide them a safe exile in Germany as a place from where they could continue their attempts to overthrow Asad [sic], in order to weaken the Soviet bloc... Three ways how West Germany supported the Syrian Brotherhood.. It provided asylum and a save haven from where the exile-brotherhood could organise its struggle against Asad [sic], it protected them against attacks of Syrian intelligence, and West German newspapers reported about the Hama incident in a way that supported the aims of the Brotherhood.

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Sources