The Golan Heights, located in southwest Syria and bordering Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, is a 1,000 square mile rocky plateau located about 60 kilometers from Damascus, although it has significance far beyond that and has been a political flashpoint. for decades.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1980s and its troops seized the demilitarized buffer zone in response to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship in Syria.
Troops have also been deployed beyond the demilitarized buffer zone and into Syrian territory, with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “barren defense zone” in southern Syria, adding that they would not maintain a permanent presence. Israel had previously dismissed as “false” reports from Syrian sources that it had violated the buffer zone.
Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli control of the heights “guarantees our security and sovereignty,” adding that “the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity.”
Israel’s cabinet has now unanimously approved Mr Netanyahu’s $11m (£8.7m) plan to double the population of the Golan Heights due to the potential security risk in the aftermath of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad from Syria.
His office said the money would be spent on education, renewable energy, the creation of a student village and a plan to absorb new residents.
It was a decision that sparked condemnation in the region and within the UN. Here, The Independent explains why Israel considers the Golan Heights so important.
Why is Israel occupying the Golan Heights?
It was captured by Israeli forces during the 1967 Six-Day War, a short-lived conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Syrian Arab residents fled the region during the conflict, before an armistice line was drawn and the region was placed under the control of the Israeli army. Settlers began entering the Golan almost immediately afterwards.
Israeli military vehicles roll after crossing the fence leading to the buffer zone with Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights (AFP via Getty Images)
Fourteen years of military rule followed, including a failed attempt by Syria to retake the Golan in 1973. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force is in place on the line ceasefire since 1974. Israel annexed it unilaterally in 1981.
In December of the same year, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 497, declaring that the Golan Heights was still occupied territory and that the legal annexation was “null and void and of no international legal effect.” .
More than four decades later, the entire international community – with the exception of the United States and Israel – considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory under Israeli occupation. In 2019, the United States recognized the Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory during Donald Trump’s first term in office – becoming the only state to do so.
Israeli soldiers take position near the Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams (AP)
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the decision was made on Sunday to retake the territory to protect its civilians. Israel later told the UN Security Council it was taking a “limited and temporary” step to counter threats to its security.
The move was condemned by regional powers including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
Reports from Syrian sources that Israel had crossed into Syrian territory beyond the occupied Golan Heights – and was just 25km from the Syrian capital, Damascus – were strongly denied by Israel, which said its forces remained “in the buffer zone”.
Why is Israel so attached to the Golan Heights?
About 23,000 Druze, who largely identify as Arabs and did not flee their country during the 1967 war, currently live alongside 30 Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights.
Israeli military vehicles cross the fence on their return from the buffer zone with Syria (AFP via Getty Images)
In 2021, Israel committed to doubling the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights within five years, approving the construction of 7,300 housing units in the area to accommodate an additional 23,000 settlers. The far-right Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Naftali Bennett, told his cabinet: “It goes without saying that the Golan Heights is Israeli.”
The area is of strategic military importance. When Syria controlled the Heights between 1948 and 1967, it used it as an observation point to bomb northern Israel. The summit of the heights offers views extending to Damascus and overlooks much of southern Syria, allowing Israel to monitor Syrian movements and making it difficult for Syria to take military action against Israel.
The Golan also has fertile land and is a vital water source for an arid region.
The Syrian regime has already sought a peace deal with Israel, demanding a complete withdrawal from pre-1967 borders and the removal of all Israeli settlements.
