Golan Heights

Place The Golan Heights ( , Haḍbatu 'l-Jawlān or مرتفعات الجولان, Murtafaʕātu 'l-Jawlān , , Ramat HaGolan (audio) , formerly known as the Syrian Heights ) is a strategic plateau and mountainous region at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and remains a highly contested land straddling the borders of Syria and Israel . Two-thirds of the area is currently occupied by Israel. The Golan Heights has been under Israeli control since the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law , which extended Israeli law and administration throughout the Israeli-occupied territory , a move which was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in its resolution 497 . The majority of governments supported the Security Council in this and have continued to do so. In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly voted by 161-1 in favour of a motion on the "occupied Syrian Golan" that reaffirmed support for Security Council motion 497. Israel argues that it may retain the Golan Heights as the text of Security Council Resolution 242 adopted after the Six-Day War calls for "safe and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force". The Golan has a rich history dating back to biblical times and features numerous archeological landmarks. It is a popular tourist attraction with its many scenic streams, mountains and waterfalls . Israel: Current Issues and Historical Background . Politicide: Ariel Sharon's war against the Palestinians . "Presidency Statement on Golan Heights" . 04/01/2004 . "Israel and the occupied territories and the Palestinian authority without distinction - attacks on civilians by Palestinian armed groups" . UN Security Council Resolution 497 "General Assembly adopts broad range of texts, 26 in all, on recommendation of its fourth Committee, including on decolonization, information, Palestine refugees" .

Place in Syrian territory occupied by Israel. The Golan Heights ( Haḍbatu 'l-Jawlān or مرتفعات الجولان Murtafaʻātu l-Jawlān , , Ramat ha-Golan (audio) ), or simply the Golan or the Syrian Golan , is a region in the Levant . The exact region defined as the Golan Heights is different in different disciplines: As a geological and biogeographical region, the Golan Heights is a basaltic plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, Mount Hermon in the north, and the Raqqad Wadi in the east. The western two-thirds of this region are currently occupied by Israel , whereas the eastern third is controlled by Syria . As a geopolitical region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War , territory which Israel effectively annexed in 1981. This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights, as well as the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon . The earliest evidence of human habitation dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. According to the Bible , an Amorite Kingdom in Bashan was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og . Throughout the Old Testament period, the Golan was "the focus of a power struggle between the Kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus." The Itureans , an Arab or Aramaic people, settled there in the 2nd century BCE and remained until the end of the Byzantine period. Organized Jewish settlement in the region came to an end in 636 CE when it was conquered by Arabs under Umar ibn al-Khattāb . In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and was part of the Vilayet of Damascus until it was transferred to French control in 1918. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic . Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel since 1967. It was captured during the 1967 Six-Day War , establishing the Purple Line . On 19 June 1967, the Israeli cabinet voted to return the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace agreement. Such overtures were dismissed by the Arab world with the Khartoum Resolution on September 1, 1967. In the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War , Israel agreed to return about 5% of the territory to Syrian civilian control. This part was incorporated into a demilitarised zone that runs along the ceasefire line and extends eastward. This strip is under the military control of UN peace keeping forces . Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981. This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in UN Resolution 497 , which said that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect." Israel asserts it has a right to retain the Golan, citing the text of UN Resolution 242 , which calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force". However, the international community rejects Israeli claims to title to the territory and regards it as sovereign Syrian territory. Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin , Ehud Barak , and Ehud Olmert each stated that they were willing to exchange the Golan for peace with Syria. However, in 2010, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman told Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Golan Heights. Approximately 10% of Syrian Golan Druze have accepted Israeli citizenship. According to the CIA World Factbook , as of 2010, "there are 41 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights." "The international community maintains that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan is null and void and without international legal effect." International Labour Office (2009). The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories (International government publication ed.). ( General Assembly adopts broad range of texts, 26 in all, on recommendation of its fourth Committee, including on decolonization, information, Palestine refugees , United Nations, December 5, 2008.) "the Syrian Golan Heights territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967". Also, "the Golan Heights, a 450-square mile portion of southwestern Syria that Israel occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war." ( CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Syria: U.S. The Los Angeles Times . Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (Paperback ed.). Ancient synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery . The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, Volume 2 (Hardcover ed.). Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces . The right of conquest: the acquisition of territory by force in international law and practice , Oxford University Press, 1996. pg. 265. Israel, on this view, would be entitled to exact as a condition of withdrawal from the territory the imposition of security measures of an indefinite character--such as perpetual demilitarization, or the emplacement of a United Nations force--which would ensure, or tend to ensure, that the territory would not be used against it for aggression on future occasions. But the notion that Israel is entitled to claim any status other than that of belligerent occupant in the territory which it occupies, or to act beyond the strict bounds laid down in the Fourth Geneva Convention, has been universally rejected by the international community--no less by the United States than by any other state." "Israel's Lieberman cautions Syria" .

Territory captured and occupied from Syria by Israel Disputed territory The Golan Heights ( or مرتفعات الجولان Murtafaʻātu l-Jawlān , ), or simply the Golan , is a region in the Levant , spanning about 1,800 square kilometres (690 sq mi). The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between disciplines: as a geological and biogeographical region, the Golan Heights is a basaltic plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. As a geopolitical region, the Golan Heights is the area captured from Syria and occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War , territory which has been administered as part of Israel since 1981 . This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights and the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon. The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. According to the Bible , an Amorite Kingdom in Bashan was conquered by Israelites during the reign of King Og . Throughout the biblical period, the Golan was "the focus of a power struggle between the kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus." After Assyrian and Babylonian rule, Persia dominated the region and allowed it to be resettled by returning Jews from the Babylonian Captivity . The Itureans , an Arab or Aramaic people, settled there in the 2nd century BCE and remained until the end of the Byzantine period. Gamla, the capital of Jewish Galaunitis, would play a major role in the Jewish-Roman wars , and came to house the earliest known urban synagogue from the Hasmonean / Herodian realm. Organized Jewish settlement in the region came to an end in 636 CE when it was conquered by Arabs under Umar ibn al-Khattāb . In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and was part of the Vilayet of Damascus until it was transferred to French mandate in 1918. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Republic . Since the 1967 Six-Day War , the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel , whereas the eastern third remains under control of the Syrian Arab Republic . Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution . Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law in 1981, which applied Israeli law to the territory; a move that has been described as an annexation . This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497 , which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect", and Resolution 242 , which emphasises "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war". Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan, also citing the text of UN Resolution 242 , which calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force". After the onset of the Syrian Civil War , control of the Syrian-administered part of the Golan Heights was split between the government and opposition forces, with the UNDOF maintaining a 266 km (103 sq mi) buffer zone in between, to implement the ceasefire of the Purple Line . From 2012 to 2018, the eastern Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Arab Army , rebel factions of the Syrian opposition including the moderate Southern Front , jihadist al-Nusra Front , and ISIL -affiliated factions . In July 2018, the Syrian government regained control of the eastern Golan Heights. President Donald Trump proclaimed that " the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel ", making the United States the first country besides Israel to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The 28 member states of the European Union declared in turn they do not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and several Israeli experts on international law stated the principle remains that land gained by defensive or offensive wars cannot be legally annexed under international law. The Los Angeles Times . Lexicon of the Land of Israel (in Hebrew). Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (Paperback ed.). Ancient synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery . The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East . Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces . The New York Times . There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).

Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 Place The Golan Heights ( or ; ), or simply the Golan , is a region in the Levant spanning about 1,800 km (690 sq mi). The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between disciplines: as a geological and biogeographical region, the term refers to a basaltic plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. As a geopolitical region, it refers to the border region captured from Syria by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967; the territory has been occupied by the latter since then and was subject to a de facto Israeli annexation in 1981 . This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights and the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon. The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. Throughout the Biblical period, the Golan was "the focus of a power struggle between the kings of Israel and the Aramaeans who were based near modern-day Damascus ." After Assyrian and Babylonian rule, the region came under the domination of Persia , and later under the control of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. The Itureans , an Arab or Aramaic people, settled in the area in the 2nd century BCE. By the third century AD, the Christian Arab Ghassanid kingdom controlled the Golan. The region was later annexed by the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the early seventh century. In the 16th century, the Golan was conquered by the Ottoman Empire . Within Ottoman Syria , the Golan was part of the Syria Vilayet . The area later became part of the French Mandate in Syria and the State of Damascus . When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic . Since the Six-Day War of 1967, the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel, whereas the eastern third remains under the control of Syria. Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution at the 1967 Arab League summit . Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under a military administration until the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law in 1981, which applied Israeli law to the territory; the move has been described as an annexation . The Golan Heights Law was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497 , which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect", and Resolution 242 , which emphasizes the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war". Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan, also citing the text of Resolution 242, which calls for "secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force". After the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, control of the Syrian-administered part of the Golan Heights was split between the state government and Syrian opposition forces , with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) maintaining a 266 km (103 sq mi) buffer zone in between to help implement the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire across the Purple Line . From 2012 to 2018, the eastern half of the Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Army , rebel factions of the Syrian opposition (including the United States-backed Southern Front ) as well as various jihadist organizations such as al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -affiliated Khalid ibn al-Walid Army . In July 2018, the Syrian government regained full control over the eastern Golan Heights. Lexicon of the Land of Israel (in Hebrew). Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (Paperback ed.). Ancient synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery . The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East . Roman Syria and the Near East . The Origins and Evolution of the Arab-Zionist Conflict . Y.Z Blum "Secure Boundaries and Middle East Peace in the Light of International Law and Practice" (1971) pages 24–46 "Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Force" . Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces . The Times of Israel . There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ).

Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 The Golan Heights , or simply the Golan , is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria . It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. It hosts vital water sources that feed the Hasbani River and the Jordan River . Two thirds of the area was occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and then effectively annexed in 1981 – an action unrecognized by the international community , which continues to consider it Israeli-occupied Syrian territory. In 2024, Israel occupied the remaining one third of the area. The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. It was home to the biblical Geshur , and was later incorporated into Aram-Damascus , before being ruled by several foreign and domestic powers, including the Assyrians , Babylonians , Persians , Itureans , Hasmoneans , Romans , Ghassanids , several caliphates , and the Mamluk Sultanate . It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until its collapse, and subsequently became part of the French Mandate in Syria and the State of Damascus in 1923. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic , spanning about 1,800 km (690 sq mi). After the Six-Day War of 1967, the Golan Heights was occupied and administered by Israel. Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution at the 1967 Arab League summit . Civil administration of a third of the Golan heights, including the capital Quneitra , was restored to Syria in a disengagement agreement the year after the 1973 Yom Kippur War . Construction of Israeli settlements began in the territory held by Israel, which was under a military administration until the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law in 1981, which applied Israeli law to the territory; this move has been described as an annexation and was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497 . After the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, control of the Syrian-administered part of the Golan Heights was split between the state government and Syrian opposition forces , with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) maintaining a 266 km (103 sq mi) buffer zone in between to help implement the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire across the Purple Line . From 2012 to 2018, the eastern half of the Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Army , rebel factions of the Syrian opposition (including the Southern Front ) as well as various jihadist organizations such as al-Nusra Front and the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army . In July 2018, the Syrian government regained full control over the eastern Golan Heights. After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Israel occupied the rest of the Golan Heights as a "temporary defensive position", followed by two additional Syrian villages, Jamlah and Maaraba . Lexicon of the Land of Israel (in Hebrew). Jewish History: The Big Picture . Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (Paperback ed.). Gamla III: the Shmarya Gutmann excavations 1976-1989, finds and studies: part 1 . Roman Syria and the Near East . The Origins and Evolution of the Arab-Zionist Conflict . Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces . The Times of Israel . "Occupying Israeli forces open fire on Syrians protesting seizure of 2 villages in Daraa province" . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).