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Map
of the Golan Heights The
Golan Heights The Golan Heights is a plateau
separating Syria and Israel, and it is
currently occupied by Israel as a
result of several wars between Israel
and Syria. The Golan was
recognized as a part of Syria upon
Syria's independence from France in
1923. In 1948, Syria participated in the
first of many Arab-Israeli
Wars, and upon the conclusion of
that first war with Israel in 1949, the
border between Israel and Syria formed
at the edge of Syrian Golan. Though
that first major war concluded, many
instances of border
warfare between Israel and Syria
continued in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, Syria lost the Six-Day War
with Israel, and at the war's
conclusion, Israeli forces were in
control of the Golan Heights. The
UN-brokered cease-fire line was called
"The Purple Line." Since
1967, various attempts at negotiation
and discussion have failed to return
the Golan to Syrian control. Israel
cites those border conflicts in the
1950s and 1960s when Syrian artillery
would fire on Israeli settlements in
the lowlands (the higher elevatio of
the Golan makes it a very good place
from which to target northern Israel),
as well as the use of Syrian territory
by Palestinian
forces to attack Israel, as reasons
for Israel to keep the Golan. In 1973, Syria, along with Egypt,
launched a surprise attack on Israel.
Syria's goal was to recapture the Golan
Heights. Despite fierce tank battles on
the Golan Heights, the Syrians were
unable to re-capture the Golan. The war
ended with another cease-fire
negotiated by the United Nations, and
both sides agreed to withdraw their
forces back to the Purple Line. As a
result of those UN negotiations, the
United Nations Disengagement Observer
Force (UNDOF) was created in 1974 to
supervise the disengagement agreement
between Israel and Syria, and to
supervise and hold the ceasefire. The
area between the Israeli and Syrian
forces is known as the" UNDOF
Zone." Approximately more than
1,000 UN peacekeepers are in the UNDOF
Zone as a buffer between the two
warring neighbors. Since 1973, the Golan Heights has
been fairly quiet. In 1981,the Israeli
Knesset (parliament) passed the
"Golan Heights Law",
under which Israeli "laws, jurisdiction
and administration" applied to the
occupied Golan Heights. This law
created a de facto annexation of the
Golan to Israel, the land is still
recognized internationally as Syrian
territory under Israeli occupation.
Syria, of course, does not recognize
any Israeli claims of authority in the
Golan Heights. The population of the Golan Heights
includes 20,000 Israeli settlers and
17,000 Druze, which is a religious
minority found in both Syria and
Lebanon. The pre-war Syrian Arab
population stood around 148,000, most
of whom fled the Golan or were expelled
with the Israeli conquest of the Golan
Heights. The Syrian Civil War brought new
tensions to the Golan Heights, as
combat between Syrian government forces
and the rebels often flared within
sight of Israeli positions on the
Golan. On November 3, 2012, three
Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized
zone at Be’er Ajam near the UNDOF
buffer in violation of the cease-fire
agreement. On November 11, 2012, a
Syrian mortar round landed near Israeli
military positions in the Golan. Israel
responded with a "warning shot" missile
launch and lodged a protest with the
United Nations. IDF
fires warning shot into Syria after
shell hits Golan --Jerusalem Post,
Nov. 11, 2012 Three
Syrian tanks enter Golan Heights buffer
zone-Jerusalem Post, Nov. 3,
2012 |
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Marketing You Can Trust Pages
on Middle Eastern Military
History History
of Yemen: Wars and
Politics The
Bombing of the U.S. Marines
Barracks in Beirut (October 23,
1983) Site
Map--revision
in progress |
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