Middle East: Local disputes, the Israeli military, and settler violence endanger officials
Local officials in Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon faced the lion’s share of the violence.
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This report is part of ACLED's annual Violence Targeting Local Officials series that has been covering this topic for the past four years.
ACLED records 121 events of violence targeting local officials in 2025 across the Middle East, a 17% decrease from the previous year. Nearly 60% of events took place in three countries: Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon, where authorities were endangered by local political disputes, Israeli military action, and rising settler violence.
For the fifth consecutive year, Syria was the Middle Eastern country with the highest number of incidents of violence targeting local officials (see map below). Most violence appeared to stem from local disputes spread across the country. Local officials were targeted in acts of intimidation, retaliation, and coercion and through abductions, public assaults, and killings, often along with family members. In some cases, assailants accused officials of collaboration with the Assad regime, while in others, attacks appeared tied to efforts to assert authority at the local level. This violence threatens the post-Assad stabilization efforts, as a weakened state cannot impose its authority, improve security, or provide basic services, which are all key to maintaining legitimacy.
In Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli strikes and ground fire struck officials and associated infrastructure both in targeted attacks and as part of broader military operations. In several cases, Israeli authorities claimed that targeted officials or public infrastructure were affiliated with Hamas or Hezbollah.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers assaulted and intimidated Palestinian local officials, often during raids but also in the course of the administrators’ daily work. Most incidents were recorded in Nablus and Hebron, which were among the top three governorates with the highest levels of settler-related violence in 2025. Such attacks are part of larger efforts to displace Palestinian communities and continue the establishment of illegal outposts, ultimately weakening the Palestinian Authority's ability to provide basic services.
Visuals produced by Ciro Murillo.
Regional trends in violence targeting local officials
Palestine is the country with the most intense political violence in the world, and Syria ranks among the top five countries with the most intense political violence in the world.
See ACLED’s Conflict Index to find out more.
