{{Short description|Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 }} {{Pp-move|small=yes}} {{Pp-semi-indef}} {{Distinguish|Quneitra Governorate}} {{multiple issues| collapsed=yes| {{POV|date=January 2026}} {{Very long|date=March 2026|words=~12,000}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox settlement | short_description = no | name = Golan Heights | image_map = Golan_Heights_Map.PNG | map_caption = Location of the Golan Heights | image_caption = Lake Ram near Mount Hermon (background), in the northeastern Golan Heights | pushpin_mapsize= | coordinates = {{Coord|33|00|N|35|45|E|dim:80km|display=inline,title}} | settlement_type= | subdivision_type = Status | subdivision_name = Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, occupied by Israel since 1967<ref name="ILO"> *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqIv03qWPc0C |title=The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories |author=International Labour Office |edition=International government publication |publisher=International Labour Office |year=2009 |isbn=978-92-2-120630-9 |page=23 |quote=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.}} *{{cite report |url=https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20060119_IB92075_8946198a6994be1ef82149ca1b9588f41aaf53b5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326120543/https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20060119_IB92075_8946198a6994be1ef82149ca1b9588f41aaf53b5.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2019 |url-status=live |title=CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Syria: U.S. Relations and Bilateral Issues |first1=Alfred B. |last1=Prados |work=Congressional Research Service |department=Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |date=19 January 2006 |quote=...{{nbsp}}the Syrian Golan Heights territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967,{{nbsp}}... ...{{nbsp}}the Golan Heights, a 450-square mile portion of southwestern Syria that Israel occupied during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war.|quote-pages=1{{ndash}}2}}</ref><ref name= condemn>{{citation |last=Korman |first=Sharon |title=The Right of Conquest: The Acquisition of Territory by Force in International Law and Practice |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=262–263}}</ref><ref name= Res497/>{{efn|name=GA/10794|text=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 UN Resolution 497.<ref name="GA/10794">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2008/ga10794.doc.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327071526/https://www.un.org/press/en/2008/ga10794.doc.htm |archive-date=27 March 2019 |url-status=live |title=General Assembly adopts broad range of texts, 26 in all, on recommendation of its fourth Committee, including on decolonization, information, Palestine refugees |publication-date=5 December 2008 |work=United Nations |id=GA/10794 |publisher=UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases |department=Department of Public Information |place=New York |access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref>}}{{efn|see Status of the Golan Heights}}{{efn|The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan in March 2019, becoming the first country besides Israel to do so.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190325162706/https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFW1N1ZU01G Trump signs decree recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights], Reuters, 25 March 2019</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Matthew |last2=Riechmann |first2=Deb |title=Trump signs declaration reversing US policy on Golan Heights |website=AP NEWS |date=25 March 2019 |url=https://apnews.com/da3b37642ce648658d1e6a8de2d43846 |access-date=27 March 2019}}</ref>}} | area_total_km2 = 1800 | area_blank1_title = Occupied by State of Israel | area_blank1_km2= | area_blank2_title= | area_blank2_km2= | elevation_max_m = 2814 | elevation_min_m = −212 | population_total = ~63,000 | population_blank1_title= Israeli settlers<ref name="z777">{{cite web | last=Becatoros | first=Elena | title=Israel's plan to double number of settlers in Golan Heights met with conflicting emotions | website=Los Angeles Times | date=2024-12-29 | url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-12-29/israels-plan-to-double-the-number-of-settlers-in-the-golan-heights-is-met-with-conflicting-emotions | access-date=2026-04-07}}</ref><ref name="b197">{{cite web | title=Israel approves plan to double settler population in Golan Heights | website=France 24 | date=2021-12-26 | url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20211226-israel-approves-plan-to-double-settler-population-in-golan-heights | access-date=2026-04-07}}</ref><ref name="q309">{{cite web | title=Israel plans to expand settlements in occupied Golan Heights following fall of Assad | website=SBS News | date=2024-12-15 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/israel-plans-to-expand-settlements-in-occupied-golan-heights-following-fall-of-assad/bmdenng4w | access-date=2026-04-07}}</ref><ref name="k191">{{cite web | title=Israel approves plan to surge settler population in occupied Golan Heights | website=Al Jazeera | date=2024-12-15 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/15/israel-approves-plan-to-surge-settler-population-in-occupied-golan-heights | access-date=2026-04-07}}</ref> | population_blank1 = 31,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-is-significance-golan-heights-2024-12-10/ |title=What is the Golan Heights and what does it mean to Israel and Syria? |date=10 December 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024 |publisher=Reuters }}</ref> | population_blank2_title= Druze | population_blank2 = 29,364<ref>{{cite news |last=Amun |first=Fadi |date=6 January 2025 |title=After years of hesitation, more Druze of the Golan Heights seek Israeli citizenship |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-years-of-hesitation-more-druze-of-the-golan-heights-seek-israeli-citizenship/ |publisher=www.timesofisrael.com |access-date=6 April 2026}}</ref>{{efn|Roughly 40% of Druze across the four main Druze towns in the Golan Heights have taken Israeli citizenship as of March 2026}} | population_footnotes= | timezone1_location= Golan Heights (Israeli-administered area) | utc_offset1 = +2 | timezone1_DST = IDT | utc_offset1_DST = +3 | timezone2 = AST | utc_offset2 = +3 | timezone2_location= Remaining parts of the Golan Heights | subdivision_type2 = Claimed by | subdivision_name2 = Israel <br /> Syria | subdivision_type3 = Occupied by | subdivision_name3 = Israel }}
The '''Golan Heights''', or simply the '''Golan''', is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria, the majority of which has been occupied and administered by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.<ref name="ILO" /><ref name="condemn" /><!-- consensus is "at the southwest corner of Syria" in the opening sentence; please discuss on talk page before modifying or adding to this --> 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 (Ruqqad) in the east, with an alternative definition having it stretch further east, up to Wadi 'Allan. It hosts vital water sources that feed the Hasbani River and the Jordan River.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Al Jazeera Staff |title=Is Israel trying to entrench its occupation of the Golan Heights? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/16/is-israels-trying-to-entrench-its-occupation-of-the-golan-heights |access-date=19 December 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Two thirds of the area was depopulated following the 1967 Six-Day War and later effectively annexed in 1981. In 2019, during the first Trump administration, the United States became the first country to recognize Golan Heights as part of Israel. No other UN member state has formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory, and the international community largely considers it Syrian land under occupation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 March 2019 |title=Trump's Golan move unites Gulf States and Iran in condemnation |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190326-trump-golan-heights-israel-gulf-arabs-iran |access-date=5 January 2026 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref> In late 2024, amid the collapse of the Assad regime and the Syrian government's control, Israeli forces entered and took control of the United Nations‑monitored demilitarized buffer zone on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel occupies buffer zone in Syria's Golan Heights (Q&A) |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-occupies-buffer-zone-in-syria-s-golan-heights-qa/3420365 |access-date=5 January 2026 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref>
The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period.<ref>Tina Shepardson. [http://www.bibfor.de/archiv/99-1.shepardson.htm Stones and Stories: Reconstructing the Christianization of the Golan], {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010415195509/http://bibfor.de/archiv/99-1.shepardson.htm |date=15 April 2001 }} Biblisches Forum, 1999.</ref> The plateau was home to the biblical Geshur, and was later incorporated into Aram-Damascus,<ref name= MK>{{Cite journal |last=Kochavi |first=Moshe |date=1989 |title=The Land of Geshur Project: Regional Archaeology of the Southern Golan (1987–1988 Seasons) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926133 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=39 |issue=1/2 |pages=3 |jstor=27926133 |issn=0021-2059}}</ref><ref name= MAY>Michael Avi-Yonah (1979). ''The Holy Land – from the Persian to the Arab Conquests (536 B.C. to A.D. 640) A Historical Geography'', Grand Rapids, Michigan, p. 170 {{ISBN|978-0-8010-0010-2}}</ref> before being ruled by several foreign and domestic powers, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians,<ref name= IHR>HaReuveni, Immanuel (1999). ''Lexicon of the Land of Israel'' (in Hebrew). Miskal – Yedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books. pp. 662–663 {{ISBN|978-965-448-413-8}}.</ref><ref name= FV>Vitto, Fanny, ''Ancient Synagogue at Rehov'', Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem 1974</ref> Itureans, Hasmoneans, Romans,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gevirtz |first=Gila |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy19vV_1VG8C&dq=hasmoneans+in+golan&pg=PA25 |title=Jewish History: The Big Picture |date=2008 |publisher=Behrman House, Inc |isbn=978-0-87441-838-5 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27nq65cZUIgC&pg=PA249 |title=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |author1=Avraham Negev |author2=Shimon Gibson |edition=Paperback |publisher=Continuum |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8264-8571-7 |page=249}}</ref><ref name= DSy>{{cite book |last=Syon |first=Danny |chapter=Chapter 1 Introduction: A History of Gamla |title=Gamla III: the Shmarya Gutmann excavations 1976-1989, finds and studies: part 1 |date=2015 |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |doi=10.2307/j.ctt1fzhd4c.5 |doi-access=free}} p. 4 "Scholarly consensus holds that the Golan became populated by Jews ''following'' the conquests of Jannaeus in c. 80 BCE and as a direct result of these conquests."</ref> Ghassanids, several caliphates, and the Mamluk Sultanate. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until its collapse,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butcher |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJPn3-rRjC0C&dq=ghassanids+golan&pg=PA71 |title=Roman Syria and the Near East |date=2003 |publisher=Getty Publications |isbn=978-0-89236-715-3 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=VilayetSyria>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vm5bGBka_4gC&q=vilayet+of+syria&pg=PA20 |title=The Origins and Evolution of the Arab-Zionist Conflict |author=Michael J. Cohen |publisher=University of California Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-520-90914-4 |page=21}}</ref> and subsequently became part of the French Mandate in Syria and the State of Damascus in 1923.<ref>{{Citation |title=The French Mandate in Syria |publisher=Editorial Information Service of the Foreign Policy Association |number=5 |series=1925–26 |year=1925 |location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEqF9pok6qIC&q=%22state+of+damascus%22+french+mandate&pg=PP1 |access-date=16 November 2020}}</ref> When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic, spanning about {{cvt|1800|sqkm|sqmi}}.
Following the Six-Day War, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution at the 1967 Arab League summit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/Features/In-Thespotlight/This-Week-In-History-The-Arab-Leagues-three-nos |title=This Week in History: The Arab League Three No's |work=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref> 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;<ref name= MFALaw/> this move has been described as an annexation and was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497.{{efn|The resolution stated: "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".<ref name= Res497>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/SC497.pdf |title=UN Security Council Resolution 497 |access-date=26 March 2019 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331191007/https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/SC497.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>}}<ref name= condemn/>
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 {{cvt|266|km2}} buffer zone in between to help implement the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire across the Purple Line.<ref>{{cite web |title=Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Force |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/4FCBEABF0E58068085256DB70074A828 |work=Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces |publisher=United Nations |access-date=29 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421122951/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/4FCBEABF0E58068085256DB70074A828 |archive-date=21 April 2012}}</ref> 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.<ref name= boot>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/syria-boots-is-from-golan-heights-retaking-full-control-of-frontier-with-israel/ |title=Syria boots IS from Golan Heights, retaking full control of frontier with Israel |last=AP and TOI staff |date=31 July 2018 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref> After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Israel occupied the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights as a "temporary defensive position",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Egypt accuses Israel of 'exploiting power vacuum' after seizing Golan Heights buffer zone |url=https://news.sky.com/story/egypt-accuses-israel-of-exploiting-power-vacuum-after-seizing-golan-heights-buffer-zone-13270377 |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref> followed by two additional Syrian villages, Jamlah and Maaraba.<ref>{{cite web | title=Occupying Israeli forces open fire on Syrians protesting seizure of 2 villages in Daraa province | website=Anadolu Ajansı | date=20 December 2024 | url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/occupying-israeli-forces-open-fire-on-syrians-protesting-seizure-of-2-villages-in-daraa-province/3430418 | access-date=20 December 2024}}</ref>
==Etymology== The name Golan first appears in the Hebrew Bible as a city in Bashan,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Skolnik |first=Fred |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopaedia_Judaica/Gj8OAQAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |date=2007 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865945-9 |pages=79 |language=en |quote="The name 'Golan' is first mentioned in the Bible as a settlement in the region of the Bashan."}}</ref> and Golan had lent its name to the surrounding region by the first century CE. The borders of the Golan region cannot be precisely established from classical or medieval sources, although they're known to have varied over time. The name ''Golan Heights'' was not used in English before the 19th century.<ref name="EAM" />
=== Biblical city === The Hebrew Bible mentions ''Golan'' (גּוֹלָן) as a city in the territory allotted to the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, designated as one of the six Cities of Refuge (Deut. 4:43 וְאֶת־גּוֹלָן בַּבָּשָׁן לַמְנַשִּׁי "and Golan, in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites";<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.4.43 Deuteronomy 4:43], Sefaria. Accessed April 12, 2026.</ref> Josh. 20:8 וְאֶת־גּוֹלָן בַּבָּשָׁן מִמַּטֵּה מְנַשֶּׁה "and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh";<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Joshua.20.8 Joshua 20:8], Sefaria. Accessed April 12, 2026.</ref> and Josh. 21:27/1Chron. 6:56{{efn|The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible numbers this as chapter 6 verse 56 of 1 Chronicles, while the King James Version and other Christian texts lists it as verse 71<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20Chronicles%206%3A71 1 Chronicles 6:71], BibleGateway. Accessed April 10, 2026.</ref>}} אֶת־גּוֹלָן בַּבָּשָׁן וְאֶת־מִגְרָשֶׁיהָ "Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands").<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/I_Chronicles.6?lang=bi I Chronicles 6], Sefaria. Accessed April 10, 2026.</ref><ref name="EAM">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cRrGQ8bIAkC&pg=PA43 |title=The Ituraeans and the Roman Near East: Reassessing the Sources |author=E. A. Myers |edition=Hardcover |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-51887-1 |page=43 |quote=As a modern geographical division, the name Golan Heights does not appear before the nineteenth century CE.}}</ref><ref>[https://biblehub.com/topical/g/golan.htm Golan], Bible Hub. Accessed April 5, 2026. "Golan is a term that appears in the Bible as a city of refuge and a region.... It is located in the territory of Bashan, east of the Jordan River, in what is now the modern-day Golan Heights.... Golan is first mentioned in the Book of Deuteronomy as one of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River... Golan was allocated to the half-tribe of Manasseh, one of the tribes of Israel that settled east of the Jordan River."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Skolnik |first=Fred |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopaedia_Judaica/Gj8OAQAAMAAJ |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |date=2007 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865945-9 |pages=79 |language=en |quote="The name 'Golan' is first mentioned in the Bible as a settlement in the region of the Bashan."}}</ref> The ''Tosefta'' (Makkot 3:2) pairs Golan with Kedesh: "Three cities Joshua set apart in the land of Canaan, and they were set opposite three beyond the Jordan, like two rows of a vineyard . . . Kedesh in Galilee opposite Golan in Bashan."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neusner |first=Jacob |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_History_of_the_Mishnaic_Law_of_Damages/Vtv7EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Makkot+3:2+Golan&pg=PA256&printsec=frontcover |title=A History of the Mishnaic Law of Damages, Volume 3: Baba Batra, Sanhedrin, Makkot: Translation and explanation |date=2024-03-11 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-66658-0 |language=en}}</ref> The ketiv at Joshua is גלון *''Galon'', a pronunciation also seen in the Septuagint as Γαυλων, Γελων.<ref>''BHS'' p. 389. Murtonen, A. (1986). ''Hebrew in its West Semitic Setting''. p. 235.</ref> Flinders Petrie interpreted the word {{lang|he-Latn|Golan}} as meaning "something ''surrounded'', hence a ''district''".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYxOWKf8wSoC&pg=PA225 |title=A Dictionary of the Bible: Volume II: (Part I: Feign – Hyssop) |isbn=978-1-4102-1724-0 |last1=Hastings |first1=James |date=October 2004|publisher=The Minerva Group }}</ref>
=== Golan as a region === Mishnaic Hebrew הגבלן ''the Gavlan'' (c. 100 CE) and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic גובלנא, גוולנה ''Guvlana'', where the -''a'' suffix may be the definite article for a meaning of ''the Guvlan'', describe a region or city in the same area.<ref name="MSh2">{{Cite book |last=Sharon |first=Moshe |author-link=Moshe Sharon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01ogNhTNz54C&pg=PA211 |title=Corpus inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-90-04-13197-2 |page=211}}</ref><ref>M. Sotah 9:15, b. Sanhedrin 97r, y. AZ 2:4, y. Megillah 3:1. CantRabb 2:13 (vss הגבלון), PRabb 15:1 (vss הגבלון), PdRK 5:9. Jastrow ad loc., Guggenheimer ad loc. Kohut, Vol. 2. p. 226. Reeg, ''Die Antiken Synagogen'', pp. 157-158. Urman (1985) pp. 14-24.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klein |first=Samuel |date=April 1912 |title=Estates of R. Judah Ha-Nasi |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jewish_Quarterly_Review/Y0MUAAAAYAAJ |journal=Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=550}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman |first=Dan |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Synagogues_Volume_2/51abEAAAQBAJ |title=Ancient Synagogues, Volume 2 |last2= |first2= |date=2022 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-53236-6 |pages=427 |language=en |chapter=Lower Golan}}</ref> JPA יבלונה ''Yavlona'', identified with ''Guvlana'' by scholars, is the subject of c. 375 CE Talmudic debate over its inclusion in the Land of Israel.<ref>Y. Sheviit 6:1. Jastrow, Guggenheimer ad loc. I. Press (1943). ''BJPES''. '''10''' (4): 123. On y/j confusion in the Tiberian dialect see Gumpertz, Y. F. (1953). ''Mivta'e sefatenu'' (in Hebrew). pp. 51ff.</ref> The Mishnaic and Aramaic forms of this name may reflect Greek influence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman |first=Dan |title=The Golan |date=1985 |pages=14-24}}</ref> thumb|''Gaulanitis'' in its 1st-century context. In addition to the city of Golan (Γαυλάνην), Flavius Josephus describes "Gaulanitis" ({{lang|grc|Γαυλανῖτις}}), a territory containing the towns of Gamla (or Jamla<ref>{{Cite web |title=Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-18.html#EndNote_Ant_18.1b |access-date=2026-04-16 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>) and Bethsaida in its "Lower" part, Sogane (Σωγανή, possibly Khirbet Sujan or Sakhnin<ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman |first=Dan |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Synagogues/HQyxvmYV-50C |title=Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery |last2=Flesher |first2=Paul Virgil McCracken |date=1998-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-11254-4 |pages=391 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Shivti'el |first=Yinon |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cliff_Shelters_and_Hiding_Complexes_The/VrbkEAAAQBAJ |title=Cliff Shelters and Hiding Complexes |date=2019-05-20 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=978-3-647-54067-2 |pages=27-28, 42 |language=en}}</ref>) in its "Upper" part, and also Solyma (Σολύμης, unidentified<ref>{{Cite book |last=Uro |first=Risto Ilmari |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Synagogues_Volume_2/51abEAAAQBAJ |title=Ancient Synagogues, Volume 2 |last2=Flesher |first2=Paul V. M. |date=2022-11-07 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-53236-6 |pages=410 |language=en}}</ref>), Gabala (Γάβαλα, גבלא<ref>B. Ketubot 112r. Sometimes described as a district, or as equivalent to MH ''haGavlan''. Kohut, ''Arukh hashalem'' Vol. 2 p. 226. Neubauer, ''La Geographie'', pp. 66-67. Jastrow ad loc. Ishtori Haparchi writes that "they call Gebal, ''Guvla''"; cf. comments of Zunz.</ref>), and Seleucia (Σελεύκειος, unidentified<ref name=":2" />).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Moster |first=David |date=2025-10-11 |title=The Tribe of Manasseh and the Jordan River: Geography, Society, History, and Biblical Memory |url=https://www.academia.edu/34956320/_The_Tribe_of_Manasseh_and_the_Jordan_River_Geography_Society_History_and_Biblical_Memory_PhD_Dissertation_Bar_Ilan_University_Ramat_Gan_2017_ |journal=PhD Dissertation, Bar-Ilan University; Ramat Gan: 2017 |pages=123-128}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), GAULANI´TIS |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=gaulanitis-geo&highlight=gaulan |access-date=2026-04-16 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> Some scholars believe that the "Upper" Gaulanitis was north of the "Lower", differentiated by a political boundary, while others say it was merely higher in elevation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman |first=Dan |title=Yosef ben Matityahu |date=1982 |editor-last=Rappaport |editor-first=Uriel |pages=11-12 |language=he |chapter=Leshimush hashem golan bekhitve YbM}}</ref> Josephus writes that the Galilee is bordered by Gaulanitis to its east, but he also refers to Judas of Galilee as "Judas the Gaulanite (Γαυλανίτης, Eus<sup>Syr</sup> ܓܘܠܘܢܝܐ{{Efn|Eus<sup>Arm</sup>: գալիլեացի, "the Galilean".}}) of Gamla", indicating that Gaulanitis and Galilee overlapped.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ben David |first=Chaim |date=1995 |title=Ever hayarden o hagalil |url=https://tablet.otzar.org/#/b/614236/p/97/t/1776299847190/fs/m/start/0/end/42/c |journal=Sinai |language=he |volume=115 |issue=5-6 |pages=287 |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 15, 2026 |via=Otzar}}</ref><ref name="DU" /> His account likely reflects Roman administrative changes implemented after the Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE),<ref name="DU">{{Citation |last=Urman |first=Dan |chapter=Jews in the Golan—Historical Background |date=1 January 1998 |title=Ancient Synagogues |volume=2 |pages=380–385 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/edcollchap/book/9789004532366/B9789004532366_s009.xml |access-date=10 September 2024 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004532366 |isbn=978-90-04-53236-6 |chapter-url-access=subscription}}</ref> although the suffix ''-itis'' probably dates to the Ptolemaic era (305-30 BCE).<ref>{{Cite book |last=A.H.M. Jones |url=http://archive.org/details/JonesCitiesEasternRomanProvinces |title=The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces |pages=239-240 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman|first=Dan|title=Yosef ben Matityahu|date=1982|editor-last=Rappaport|editor-first=Uriel|language=he|chapter=Leshimush hashem golan bekhitve YbM|pages=10}}</ref>
Eusebius (c. 300) describes that "the region around Golan (Γαυλὼν{{Efn|This spelling may reflect the ''ketiv'' at Joshua or an equivalent version of LXX, possibly by influence of Eusebius' Jewish assistants. See Urman, Dan (1985). ''The Golan''. p. 14.}}) in Batanaea shares its name", and a writer as late as Gregory of Cyprus (c. 500) mentions a "rural region of Golan (Κλίµα Γαυλάµης)".<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2001-11-01 |title=Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land |url=https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.39-1276 |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=39 |issue=03 |pages=39–1276-39-1276 |doi=10.5860/choice.39-1276 |issn=0009-4978|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Urman |first=Dan |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Golan/gjlmAAAAMAAJ |title=The Golan: A Profile of a Region During the Roman and Byzantine Periods |date=1978 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports |isbn=978-0-86054-342-8 |pages=21 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> [[File:Gottlieb Schumacher, Map of the Jaulan by Gottlieb Schumacher, C. E. 1885 (FL45611971 3954725).jpg|thumb|Gottlieb Schumacher’s 1885 map of the Golan region]] thumb|Rene Dussaud's map of ''Jawlān'', with his proposed borders and markers for the cities in Jawlan mentioned by medieval writers. After the Muslim conquest of Syria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharon |first=Moshe |date=2007 |title=The decisive battles in the Arab Conquest of Syria |url=https://journal.fi/store/article/view/52620/16385 |journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica |volume=101 |pages=297-358 |via=Google Scholar}}</ref> the Hebrew name was Arabized to {{lang|ar-Latn|Jawlān}} (الجولان, sometimes romanized {{lang|apc-Latn|Djolan}}).<ref name="MSh">{{Cite book |last= Sharon |first=Moshe |author-link=Moshe Sharon |title=Corpus inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-90-04-13197-2 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01ogNhTNz54C&pg=PA211}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cN1YB8fTAI4C&pg=PA287 |title=Travels in Syria and the Holy Land |author=John Lewis Burchhardt |publisher=Association for the promoting the discovery of the interior parts of Africa |year=1822 |page=286}}</ref> Jawlan was used for a "mountain" (see below) or region somewhat east and north of Goulanitis or the modern Golan Heights,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raoul |first=Rene |url=http://archive.org/details/dictionnairedhis0003unse |title=Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques |date=1912 |publisher=Paris : Letouzey et Ané |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-2-7063-0157-5 |pages=1182, 1218 |chapter=Arabie}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Rosenmüller |first=Ernst Friedrich Karl |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Handbuch_der_biblischen_Alterthumskunde/rS8VAAAAYAAJ |title=Handbuch der biblischen Alterthumskunde |date=1826 |publisher=Baumgärtner |volume=2 |pages=6-7 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Miquel |first=André |url= |title=La géographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu'au milieu du 11e siècle |date=1967 |publisher=Éds. de l'École des Hautes Études |isbn=978-2-7132-0705-1 |pages=404 n. 73 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Dussaud |first=René |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Topographie_historique_de_la_Syrie_antiq/JBSCAAAAIAAJ |title=Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale |date=1927 |publisher=P. Geuthner |pages=343, 381 |language=fr}}</ref> containing Jabiyah, Aqraba, and Burqat Ajwal; its capital was Banias according to Al-Ya'qubi (891), and Nawa, sat at its eastern edge, according to Al-Nawawi (c. 1250).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nöldeke |first=Theodor |author-link=Theodor Nöldeke |date=1876 |title=Zur Topographie und Geschichte des Damas cenischen Gebietes und der Haurângegend |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43366216 |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft |volume=29 |issue=3/4 |pages=419–444 |issn=0341-0137}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Al-Nawawi |first=Yahya |url=https://archive.org/details/1-s_20230330/3%20%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B0%D9%8A%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A1%20%28S%29/page/n101/mode/2 |title=Tahdhib al-Asma wa'l-Lughat |pages=102 |language=ar}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Pasha |first=Omar Moussa |title=Jawlan |date=1982 |pages=57-67 |language=ar |chapter=al-Jawlān al-ʿArabī fī Turāthinā al-Lughawī wal-Adabī wal-Ḥaḍārī}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Le Strange |first=Guy |url=http://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft |title=Palestine under the Moslems |date=1890 |publisher=London A.P. Watt |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |pages=34, 390, 425}}</ref> Al-Jawhari and Abu Mansur al-Azhari (c. 975) mention a "land" called Jawlan,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=al-Jahwari |first=Abu Nasr |url=https://archive.org/details/civ-7220/page/n211 |title=Taj al-Lugha wa Sihah al-Arabiya |publisher= |pages=213 |language=ar}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> and Ibn al-Faqih (c. 900), Al-Maqdisi (985), Nasr al-Iskandari (c. 1150), and Al-Dimashqi (c. 1300) knew Jawlan as a "district of Damascus".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Al-Iskandari |first=Nasr |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%83%D9%86%D8%A9_%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87/pfZuDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT185&printsec=frontcover |title=Kitab Anhina wal Miyah wal Djibal wal Athar wa nahwiha al madhkoura fil Akhbar wal Achar |date= |publisher= |isbn=978-2-7451-5020-2 |pages=185 |language=ar}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> Al-Nawawi writes that "Jawlan contains around 200 villages. Its width is a day's journey, and its length is somewhat more".<ref name=":6" /> René Dussaud posits that Jawlan stretched from the Jordan River to the Ruqqad,{{Efn|Maps from the early 19th century show Wadi or Nahr Ruqqad to the east of Nawa. On modern maps like Dussaud's, Ruqqad corresponds to the former Wadi Hamy Sakhar.}} and from the Yarmouk River to Banias.<ref name=":5" />
In 1826, Jawlan was said to refer to part of the Jedur plain.<ref name=":4" /> In 1885, Gottlieb Schumacher described an area of 560 square miles, corresponding to the modern Golan Heights:<ref name=Schumacher1885/> <blockquote>The entire area of modern Jaulân, including ez Zawîyeh esh-Shurkîyeh and Sha'rah in the north, is about 560 square miles. By the Jaulân is meant only the high plateau and a part of its declivity, viz., the north-west portion sloping from the Huleh marshes: and bounded in the west by Jordan, south-west by the Lake of Tiberias, north by the declivities of Hermon and the Wâdy el-Adjam, north-east by Jedur or Nahr er-Rukkád, and east and south by Haurân or the Nahr el-Allân, and in the south by 'Ajlûn or the River Yarmuk.<br>Politically, the Jaulân forms one of the administrative districts (Kaimakâmîyeh) of the Sanjak or the Liva of Haurân (with the seat of government of a Kaimakam in el-Kuneitrah), and as such is under the Mutasarrif of the Haurân at Sheikh Sa'ad.</blockquote>
Its border was moved east in 1883 to the Nahr al-Allan, including Saham al-Jawlan, and west in 1884, to exclude it.<ref name=Schumacher1885>{{Cite book |last=Schumacher |first=Gottlieb |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jaul%C3%A2n/bDHmCEtcEikC |title=The Jaulân: Surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land |date=1885 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01756-5 |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Golan as a mountain === Although the Heights are a plateau, medieval Islamic authors also refer to a mountain named Jawlan in the same area.{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|pp=87,89-91}}
Al-Nabigha and Hassan ibn Thabit (c. 600) mention a certain "Ḥārith al-Jawlān (حارث الجولان)"; according to the interpretation of Ibn Duraid (c. 900) and Ibn Sidah (c. 1050), "Jawlan is a well-known mountain in Syria, also called Harith al-Jawlan".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibn Duraid |first=Muhammad |url=http://archive.org/details/jamharat-allogha |title=Jamharat al-Lugha |pages=493, 1044 |language=Arabic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sidah |first=Ali |url=http://archive.org/details/lis01846 |title=Al-Muḥkam wa-al-muḥīt al-aʻẓam |volume=7 |pages=552 |language=Arabic}}</ref> Al-Jawhari (c. 1000) identifies Jawlan as "a mountain in Syria" and Harith as "one of its peaks".<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=al-Jahwari |first=Abu Nasr |url=https://archive.org/details/civ-7220/page/n211 |title=Taj al-Lugha wa Sihah al-Arabiya |publisher= |pages=213 |language=ar}} William Muir understands from Al-Nabigha that Nu'man must have ruled over the Golan. Ibid. (1858). ''Life of Mahomet''. p. 188.</ref> Al-Nawawi writes that Harith may be a man.<ref name="GMR" /> Yaqut al-Hamawi (c. 1200) records both a "village" and a "mountain near Damascus" named Jawlan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Hamawi |first=Yaqut |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8_%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AC%D9%85_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86/oWk6AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA176&printsec=frontcover |title=Mu'jam ul-Buldān |date=1906 |publisher= |volume=3-4 |pages=176 |language=ar}}</ref>
Al-Maqdisi (c. 975) refers to Jawlan as one of the ''Jibāl al-Sharifa'' (جبال الشريفة''',''' "noble mountains" or "holy mountains") of the holy land.{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|pp=87,89-91}} Although al-Maqdisi was Muslim, this designation may be his translation of the Christian honorific ἄγιον ὅρος, "holy mountain". In the Golan many Christian churches and monastic retreats proliferated prior to the conquest, secured by Arab Christian Ghassanid foederati headquartered in Jabiya.{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|p=280}} However, al-Maqdisi also records meeting a community of forty Muslim ascetics in the Golan who wore wool and subsisted on acorns (بالبلوط ''al-ballūṭ''), led by a Thawri scholar named Ishaq al-Balluti (اسحاق البلوطى).{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|pp=87,89-91}}
==History== ===Prehistory=== The Venus of Berekhat Ram, a pebble from the Lower Paleolithic era found in the Golan Heights, may have been carved by ''Homo erectus'' between 700,000 and 230,000 BCE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/venus-of-berekhat-ram.htm |title=Venus of Berekhat Ram |work=visual-arts-cork.com}}</ref>
===Bronze Age=== The southern Golan saw a rise in settlements from the 2nd millennium BCE onwards. These were small settlements located on the slopes overlooking the Sea of Galilee or nearby gorges. They may correspond to the "'''cities of the Land of Ga[šu]ru'''" mentioned in Amarna Letter #256.5, written by the prince of Pihilu (Pella). This suggests a different form of political organization compared to the prevalent city-states of the region, such as Hatzor to the west and Ashteroth to the east.<ref name= MK/> The Golan had numerous settlements in the Middle Bronze Age until they were largely destroyed by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III in the mid 2nd millennium BCE. Following this, the level of habitation in the area decreased.<ref name= WZ>{{Cite book |last=Zwickel |first=Wolfgang |chapter=Borders between Aram-Damascus and Israel: a Historical Investigation |date=2019 |title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th – 8th Centuries B.C.E. |page=269 |publisher=Brill |lang=en |doi=10.1163/9789004398535_013|isbn=978-90-04-39853-5 }}</ref>
===Iron Age=== Following the Late Bronze Age collapse, the kingdom of Geshur emerged from the Golan,<ref name= NN>{{Cite journal |last=Na'aman |first=Nadav |date=2012 |title=The Kingdom of Geshur in History and Memory |journal=Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament |volume=26 |issue=1 |page=92 |doi=10.1080/09018328.2012.704198 |s2cid=73603495| issn= 0901-8328 }}</ref> likely a continuation of the earlier "''Land of Garu''".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zwickel |first=Wolfgang |chapter=Borders between Aram-Damascus and Israel: a Historical Investigation |date=2019 |title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th – 8th Centuries B.C.E. |page=270 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004398535_013|isbn=978-90-04-39853-5 }}</ref> The Hebrew Bible mentions it as a distinct entity during the reign of David (10th century BCE). David's marriage to Maacha, daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur, supports a dynastic alliance with Israel.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kochavi |first=Moshe |date=1989 |title=The Land of Geshur Project: Regional Archaeology of the Southern Golan (1987–1988 Seasons) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27926133 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=39 |issue=1/2 |page=15 |jstor=27926133 |issn=0021-2059}}</ref> However, by the mid-9th century BCE, Aram-Damascus absorbed Geshur into its expanding territory.<ref name= NN/><ref name= MK/><ref>{{Harvnb|Richard|2003|p=377}}</ref> Aram-Damascus' rivalry with the Kingdom of Israel led to numerous military clashes in the Golan and Gilead regions throughout the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. In the Books of Kings (1 Kings 20:26–30), the Bible recounts how Ahab, king of Israel, defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus at Aphek, a location possibly corresponding to the modern-day Afik, near the Sea of Galilee.<ref name= MK/>
===Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian periods=== During the 8th century BCE, the Assyrians conquered the region, incorporating it into the province of Qarnayim, likely including Damascus as well.<ref name= WZ/> This period was succeeded by the Babylonian and the Achaemenid Empire. According to the Mosaic of Rehob, the Achaemenid Empire allowed the region to be resettled by returning Jewish exiles from the Babylonian Captivity in the 5th century BCE.<ref name= IHR/><ref name= FV/><ref name= MAY/> Archaeological surveys have found no remains indicating any kind of habitation between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE.<ref>[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=_N56Rnsm1DUC&pg=PA150&dq=itureans+golan+district&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZlLX63_STAxUsh_0HHarvFWkQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&q=itureans%20golan%20district&f=false Religion, Ethnicity, and Identity in Ancient Galilee: A Region in Transition], p. 150.</ref><ref name=EANE>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Zvi Uri |last=Ma'oz |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East |contribution=Golan |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-19-511215-3 |page=421}}</ref>
===Hellenistic and early Roman periods=== [[File:Banias - Temple of Pan 001.jpg|thumb|Temple of Pan at Banias and the white-domed shrine of Nabi Khadr in the background]]
The Golan Heights, along with the rest of the region, came under the control of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, following the Battle of Issus. Following Alexander's death, the Golan came under the domination of the Macedonian general Seleucus and remained part of the Seleucid Empire for most of the next two centuries.<ref>{{Citation |last=Paturel |first=Simone Eid |chapter=From Hellenistic Kingdoms to Roman Authority in the Levant |date=25 June 2019 |title=Baalbek-Heliopolis, the Bekaa, and Berytus from 100 BCE to 400 CE |pages=58–78 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004400733/BP000003.xml |access-date=3 June 2024 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-40073-3}}</ref> In the middle of the 2nd century BCE, Itureans moved into the Golan,<ref>{{cite book |author=Eric M. Meyers |title=The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-19-511216-0 |edition=Hardcover |volume=2 |page=421}}</ref> occupying more than one hundred locations in the region.<ref>{{Harvnb|Richard|2003|p=427}}</ref> Iturean stones and pottery have been found in the area.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sivan|2008|pp=98–99}}</ref> Itureans also built several temples, one of them in function up until the Islamic conquest.<ref name= Sivan>{{Harvnb|Sivan|2008|p=99}}</ref>
Around 83–81 BCE, the Golan was captured by the Hasmonean king and high priest Alexander Jannaeus, annexing the area to the Hasmonean kingdom of Judaea.<ref name= CMD>{{Cite journal |last=Dauphin |first=Claudine M. |date=1982 |title=Jewish and Christian Communities in the Roman and Byzantine Gaulanitis : A Study of Evidence from Archaeological Surveys |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/peq.1982.114.2.129 |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |language=en |volume=114 |issue=2 |pages=129–130, 132 |doi=10.1179/peq.1982.114.2.129 |issn=0031-0328|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Following this conquest, the Hasmoneans encouraged Jewish migrants from Judea to settle in the Golan.<ref name= AB>{{Cite book |last=Berlin |first=Andrea |title=Gamla I: The Pottery of the Second Temple Period |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |year=2006 |pages=153–154 |quote=During the first century BCE, under Hasmonean encouragement, Judean Jews had moved north to Galilee and Gaulanitis. ... Meanwhile, between their protected spur in central Gaulanitis, the Hasmonean kingdom imploded and Herod rose to power. At his death in 4 BCE, two of his sons, Herod Philip and Herod Antipas, took over Gaulanitis and Galilee respectively.}}</ref> Most scholars agree that this settlement began after the Hasmonean conquest, though it might have started earlier,<ref name= DSy/> probably in the mid-2nd century BCE.<ref name= MAC>{{Cite journal |last1=Chancey |first1=Mark Alan |last2=Porter |first2=Adam Lowry |date=2001 |title=The Archaeology of Roman Palestine |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/3210829 |journal=Near Eastern Archaeology |language=en |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=164–203 |doi=10.2307/3210829 |jstor=3210829 |issn=1094-2076 |quote=The Jewish presence probably dated back to the mid second century BCE, and most likely increased after the Hasmonean conquest of the region during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus. Itureans were among the earliest settlers in this period, having also arrived in the mid second century BCE, and ceramic evidence at numerous sites demonstrates that they continued to live there in the Roman Period. ... The initial Roman campaigns occurred in Galilee and adjacent parts of the Golan, and military activities are visible in the archaeological records of several sites. Though Gamala initially remained loyal to Agrippa II in the Jewish Revolt, it ultimately chose to rebel. Wartime coins unique to the city bear the Hebrew inscription "for the redemption of H[oly] Jerusalem" (Syon 1992/93). The town, surrounded by steep ravines, repelled assaults by the loyalist forces of Agrippa but could not withstand the protracted siege by Roman troops that followed. Josephus described the battle in epic terms: to escape capture, "multitudes plunged headlong with their wives and children into the ravine which had been excavated to a vast depth beneath the citadel" (War 4.80). The Roman breach of the wall by the synagogue is still visible today, and fortress walls, remains of towers, pieces of armor, arrowheads, sling stones, ballista stones, and traces of fire attest to the ferocity of the siege.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Over the next century, Jewish settlement in the Golan and nearby regions became widespread, reaching north to Damascus and east to Naveh.<ref name= CMD/>
[[File:Golan_Heights_-_Gamla_view.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the ancient Jewish city of Gamla, home to one of the earliest known synagogues. The city was besieged and destroyed by the Romans in 71 CE, during the First Jewish–Roman War.]]
When Herod the Great ascended to power in Judaea during the latter half of the first century BCE, the region as far as Trachonitis, Batanea and Auranitis was put under his control by Augustus Caesar.<ref>Josephus, ''The Jewish War'' 1.20.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston+chapter%3D20%3Awhiston+section%3D3 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225094059/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston+chapter%3D20%3Awhiston+section%3D3 |date=25 February 2021 }}–[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston+chapter%3D20%3Awhiston+section%3D4 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227143619/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D1%3Awhiston+chapter%3D20%3Awhiston+section%3D4 |date=27 February 2021 }}</ref> Following Herod's death in 4 BCE, Augustus Caesar adjudicated that the Golan fell within the Tetrarchy of Herod's son, Herod Philip I.<ref name= AB/> The capital of Jewish Galaunitis, Gamla, was a prominent city and major stronghold.<ref>Syon, Danny, and Zvi Yavor. [https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/gamla-portrait-of-a-rebellion/ "Gamla: Portrait of a Rebellion."], Biblical Archaeology Society, 18 (January/February 1992): 20–37.</ref> It housed one of the earliest known synagogues, believed to have been constructed in the late 1st century BC, while the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing.<ref>{{Citation |last=Richardson |first=Peter |chapter=Pre-70 Synagogues as Collegia in Rome, the Diaspora, and Judea |date=1 January 2004 |title=Building Jewish in the Roman East |pages=126 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789047406501/B9789047406501_s012.xml |access-date=3 April 2024 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789047406501 |isbn=978-90-474-0650-1 |chapter-url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Syon, Danny. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah11097 "Gamala."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019091513/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah11097|date=19 October 2020}}. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (2013).</ref>
After Philip's death in 34 CE, the Romans absorbed the Golan into the province of Syria, but Caligula restored the territory to Herod's grandson Agrippa in 37. Following Agrippa's death in 44, the Romans again annexed the Golan to Syria, promptly to return it again when Claudius granted control of the Golan to Agrippa II, the son of Agrippa I, in 53.<ref>[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/B/bashan.html Bashan], ''Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature''. Accessed 17 March 2026. "All these provinces were granted by Augustus to Herod the Great, and on his death Batanaea formed a part of Philip's tetrarchy (Joseph. War, 2:6, 3; Ant. 18:4, 6). At his decease, A.D. 34, it was annexed by Tiberius to the province of Syria; but in A.D. 37 it was given by Caligula to Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, with the title of king (Ac 12:1; Joseph. Ant. 18:6, 10). From the time of Agrippa's death, in A.D. 44, to A.D. 53, the government again reverted to the Romans, but it was then restored by Claudius to Agrippa II (Ac 25:13; Joseph. Ant. 20, 7, 1)."</ref>
By the time of the Great Jewish revolt, which began in 66 CE, part of the Golan Heights was predominantly inhabited by Jews. According to the account of Josephus, the western and central Golan were densely populated with cities that emerged on fertile stony soil.<ref name= CMD/> After the Roman suppression of the Jews during the First Jewish–Roman War of the 60s and 70s CE and following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, many Jews sought refuge to the north of Jerusalem, fleeing to Galilee and the Golan, further increasing the Jewish population in the region.<ref name= CMD/> During this time, Jews remained a minority of the population in the Golan.<ref name=RCG>{{cite journal |last1=Gregg|first1=Robert C|date=September 2000|title=Marking religious and ethnic boundaries: cases from the ancient Golan Heights|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3169396|journal=Church History|volume=69|issue=3|pages=519–557, 39|doi=10.2307/3169396|jstor=3169396 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Despite nominally being under Agrippa's control and situated outside the province of Judaea, the Jewish communities in the area participated in the revolt. Initially, Gamla was loyal to Rome, but later the town switched allegiance and even minted its own revolt coins.<ref name= MAC/><ref name= GMR>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=189, 249}}</ref> Josephus, who was appointed by the provisional government in Jerusalem as commander of Galilee, fortified the cities of Sogana, Seleucia, and Gamla in the Golan.<ref name= GMR/><ref name= CMD/> The Roman military, under Vespasian's command, eventually ended the northern revolt in 67 CE by capturing Gamla after a siege. Josephus reports that the people of Gamla opted for mass suicide, throwing themselves into a ravine.<ref name= CMD/> Today, the visible breach in the wall near the synagogue, along with remnants such as fortress walls, tower ruins, armor fragments, various projectiles, and fire damage, testify to the siege's intensity.<ref name= MAC/> Jews again sought refuge in the Golan after the suppression in the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, which increased the Jewish population in the region significantly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gregg |first=Robert C. |date=2009-07-28 |title=Marking Religious and Ethnic Boundaries: Cases from the Ancient Golan Heights |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/church-history/article/abs/marking-religious-and-ethnic-boundaries-cases-from-the-ancient-golan-heights/4CAEEF351B95D21A33E5A96B092E6D60 |journal=Church History |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=519-557 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>
From 93 CE, the Paneas region forming the north of the Golan belonged to the province of Phoenice. Based on Ptolemy's ''Geography'' ({{Circa|150 CE}}), the western portions of the Golan, including the regions of Hippos and Gaulanitis, were part of Syria Palaestina, the new province which replaced Judaea after Bar Kokhba's revolt. The eastern parts belong to the province of Arabia Petraea, established in 106 CE.{{Sfn|Tsafrir|1982|p=335-336}}{{Sfn|Elad|1999|p=65}}
By the close of the second century, Judah ha-Nasi was granted a lease for 2,000 units of land in the Golan.<ref name= DU/> An excavation at Hippos discovered a Roman road that connected the Sea of Galilee with the city of Nawa in Syria.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuster |first=Ruth |date=3 June 2024 |title=Unknown Roman road cutting through Golan Heights is revealed in northern Israel |url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-06-03/ty-article-magazine/unknown-roman-road-revealed-cutting-through-golan-heights/0000018f-dd32-d673-ab8f-fffa5d410000 |access-date=3 June 2024 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>
=== Late Roman and Byzantine periods === [[File:Deir Qeruh (2).JPG|thumb|Church of Deir Qeruh]] [[File:אום אל קנאטיר עין קשתות.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed synagogue at Umm el-Qanatir]]
In the later Roman and Byzantine periods, the area was administered as part of Phoenicia Prima and Syria Palaestina, and finally Golan/Gaulanitis was included together with Peraea{{sfn|Shahîd|1995}} in Palaestina Secunda, after 218 CE.<ref name= MSh/> The area of the ancient kingdom of Bashan was incorporated into the province of Batanea.<ref>{{cite web |year=1860 |title=The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WE4EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA182 |work=Google News}}</ref>
The Golan preserves a notable group of Diocletianic boundary stones, which document village demarcations from the late third and early fourth centuries CE.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Maʿoz |first1=Zvi Uri |year=2006 |title=The Civil Reform of Diocletian in the Southern Levant |journal=Scripta Classica Israelica |volume=25 |pages=1–25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ecker |first1=Avner |last2=Leibner |first2=Uzi |year=2025 |title='Diocletian oppressed the inhabitants of Paneas' (ySheb. 9:2): A New Tetrarchic boundary stone from Abel Beth Maacah |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=157 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/00310328.2024.2435218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roy Marom |first=Roy |year=2025 |title=A Toponymic Reassessment of the Abil al-Qamḥ Diocletianic Boundary Stone: Identifying Golgol at al-Zūq al-Fauqānī |journal=Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology |volume=8 |pages=51–59 |doi=10.52486/01.00008.3 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80b199p2}}</ref>
The political and economic recovery of Palestine during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries CE, led to a resurgence of Jewish life in the Golan. Excavations at various synagogue sites have uncovered ceramics and coins that provide evidence of this resettlement.<ref name= ZUM>{{Cite journal |last=Maʿoz |first=Zvi Uri |date=1 June 1988 |title=Ancient Synagogues of the Golan |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/3210031 |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=116–128 |doi=10.2307/3210031 |issn=0006-0895 |jstor=3210031 |s2cid=134351479|url-access=subscription }}</ref> During this period, several synagogues were constructed, and today 25 locations with ancient synagogues or their remnants have been discovered, all situated in the central Golan. These synagogues, built from the abundant basalt stones of the region, were influenced by those in the Galilee but exhibited their own distinctive characteristics; prominent examples include Umm el-Qanatir, Qatzrin and Deir Aziz.<ref name= ZUM/> Some of the early Jerusalem Talmud tractates may have been arranged and edited during this period in Qatzrin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lieberman |first=Saul |title=The Talmud of Caesarea |publisher=Supplement to Tarbiz |year=1931 |volume=2 |pages=9 |lang=he}}</ref><ref name= DU/> Several sites in the Golan show evidence of destruction from the Jewish revolt against Gallus in 351 CE. However, some of these sites were later rebuilt and continued to be inhabited in subsequent centuries.<ref name= DU/>
In the 5th century CE, the Byzantine Empire assigned the Ghassanids, a Christian Arab tribe that had long settled in Syria, the task of protecting its eastern borders against the Sasanian-allied Arab tribe, the Lakhmids.<ref name= CMD/> The Ghassanids had emigrated from Yemen in the third century and actively supported Byzantium against Persia.<ref>{{Cite book |last=UNESCO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVYT4Kraym0C&dq=Ghassanids+yemen&pg=PA124 |title=The different aspects of islamic culture: The Spread of Islam throughout the World |date=31 December 2011 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-104153-2 |language=en}}</ref> They were initially nomadic but gradually became semi-sedentary,<ref name= CMD/> and adopted Christianity along with a number of Arab tribes situated in the borders of the Byzantine Empire in the 3rd and 4th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frassetto |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EEC9DwAAQBAJ&dq=ghassanid+adopted+christian+third+century&pg=PA2 |title=Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages: From Muhammad to Dante |date=12 November 2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4985-7757-1 |language=en}}</ref> The Ghassanids had adopted Monophysitism in the 5th century.<ref name= CMD/> At the end of the 5th century, the primary Ghassanid encampments in the Golan were Jabiyah and Jawlan, situated in the eastern Golan beyond the Ruqqad.<ref>Lammens, H., (1913). 'Djabiya', in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, Cols pp. 988-89</ref><ref>Buhl, F., (1913) 'Al-Djawlan', in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. I, A-D, Cols pp. 1029-30</ref><ref name= CMD/> The Ghassanids settled deep inside the Byzantine limes, and in a Syriac source for July 519, they are attested as having their "opulent" headquarters in the eastern Gaulanitis.{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|pp=33, 48–49}} Like the Herodian dynasty before them, the Ghassanids ruled as a client state of Rome – this time, the Christianized Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium. In 529, Emperor Justinian appointed al-Harith ibn Jabalah as Phylarch, making him the leader of all Arab tribes and bestowing upon him the title of Patricius, ranking just below the Emperor.<ref name= CMD/>
Arab Christians became the majority in the Golan with the arrival of the Ghassanids to the region.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sivan|2008|p=99}}: "The transfer of the Ghassanid to the Golan tipped credal and ethnic balance in favour of Christianity and Arabs."</ref> In 377 CE, a sanctuary for John the Baptist was established in the Golan village of Er-Ramthaniyye.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sivan|2008|p=102}}</ref> The sanctuary was often visited by the Ghassanids.<ref name= Sivan/>
In the 6th century, the Golan was inhabited by the well-established Jews and Ghassanid Christians.<ref name= CMD/>{{sfn|Shahîd|1995|p=527}} The Jewish population in the Golan engaged in agriculture, as evidenced by pre-Islamic Arab poet Muraqquish the Younger, who mentioned wine brought by Jewish traders from the region,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Decker |first=Michael |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565283.001.0001/acprof-9780199565283 |title=Tilling the Hateful Earth |date=1 July 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956528-3 |pages=136, 235 |chapter=The Vine |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565283.003.0005}}</ref> and local synagogues may have been funded by the prosperous production of olive oil.<ref name= ZUM/> A monastery and church dedicated to Saint George has been found in the Byzantine village of Deir Qeruh in the Golan, located near Gamla. The church has a square apse - a feature known from ancient Syria and Jordan, but not present in churches west of the Jordan River.<ref name= JMOC>{{cite book |last= Murphy-O'Connor |first= Jerome |author-link= Jerome Murphy-O'Connor |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |series=Oxford Archaeological Guides |year=2008 |pages=289–290 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSuErBFmykQC&pg=PA289 |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>
The Ghassanids were able to hold on to the Golan until the Sassanid invasion of 614.<ref>Froumin, Robin. [https://www.academia.edu/7798482/The_Christian_Settlements_on_the_Golan_During_the_Late_Roman_Byzantine_Period "The Christian Settlements on the Golan During the Late Roman-Byzantine Period"], ''ARAM Journal'', Volume 23, 2011. Accessed 17 March 2026.</ref> Following a brief restoration under the Emperor Heraclius, the Golan again fell, this time to the invading Muslim Arabs after the Battle of the Yarmuk in 636.<ref>Reich, Aaron. [https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/on-this-day-arabs-win-historic-victory-over-byzantines-at-battle-of-yarmuk-677257 "On This Day: Arabs win historic victory over Byzantines at Battle of Yarmuk"], ''The Jerusalem Post'', 20 August 2021. Accessed 17 March 2026. "August 20, 2021 marks 1,385 years since the Battle of the Yarmuk, a historic battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate in one of the first major clashes between the Islamic world and Christiandom that saw the beginning of Islamic expansion out of the Arabian peninsula and the start of Islamic rule over the Levant."</ref> Data from surveys and excavations combined show that the bulk of sites in the Golan were abandoned between the late 6th and early 7th century as a result of military incursions, the breakdown of law and order, and the economy brought on by the weakening of the Byzantine rule. Some settlements lasted till the end of the Umayyad era.<ref name= ZUM/>
===Early Muslim period=== After the Battle of Yarmouk, Muawiyah I, a member of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraish, was appointed governor of Syria, including the Golan.<ref>Cobb P. The empire in Syria, 705–763. In: Robinson CF, ed. ''The New Cambridge History of Islam''. The New Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge University Press; 2010:226-228.</ref> Following the assassination of his cousin, the Caliph Uthman, Muawiya claimed the Caliphate for himself, initiating the Umayyad dynasty. Over the next few centuries, while remaining in Muslim hands, the Golan passed through many dynastic changes, falling first to the Abbasids,<ref>Cobb P. The empire in Syria, 705–763. In: Robinson CF, ed. The New Cambridge History of Islam. The New Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge University Press; 2010:266-268. </ref> then to the Shi'ite Fatimids, then to the Seljuk Turks.<ref>Lewis B. Egypt and Syria. In: Holt PM, Lambton AKS, Lewis B, eds. ''The Cambridge History of Islam''. The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge University Press; 1977:186-198.</ref>
An earthquake in 746 devastated the Jewish village of Katzrin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-15 |title=Katzrin (Qazrin) |url=https://carta-jerusalem.com/biblical-sites/qazrin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221091415/https://carta-jerusalem.com/biblical-sites/qazrin/ |archive-date=21 February 2024 |access-date=17 March 2026 |website=Carta Jerusalem |language=en-US}}</ref> Following it, there was a brief period of greatly diminished occupation during the Abbasid period (approximately 750–878). Jewish communities persisted at least into the Middle Ages in the towns of Fiq in the southern Golan and Nawa in Batanaea.<ref name= ZUM/>
For many centuries nomadic tribes lived together with the sedentary population in the region. At times, the central government attempted to settle the nomads which would result in the establishment of permanent communities. When the power of the governing regime declined, as happened during the early Muslim period, nomadic trends increased and many of the rural agricultural villages were abandoned due to harassment from the Bedouins. They were not resettled until the second half of the 19th century.<ref name= FRS>Ellenblum, R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=W08225mbAjAC&pg=PA219 Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024716/https://books.google.com/books?id=W08225mbAjAC&pg=PA219 |date=14 December 2022 }}, Cambridge University Press, 2003. pg. 219-20. {{ISBN|978-0-521-52187-1}}</ref>
===Crusader/Ayyubid period=== [[File:Nimrod-S-332.jpg|thumb|250px|Nimrod Fortress, built by the Ayyubids and hugely enlarged by the Mamluks]]
During the Crusades, the Golan's elevated terrain posed a significant challenge to the Crusader armies,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/asia_minor_1140.jpg |title=Utexas.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hist.umn.edu/courses/hist3613/calendar/states/images/Map----Crusader-States-1100.gif |title=UMN.edu |access-date=11 February 2010 |archive-date=15 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215004048/http://www.hist.umn.edu/courses/hist3613/calendar/states/images/Map----Crusader-States-1100.gif |url-status=live }}</ref> although the Crusader forces held the strategically important town of Banias twice, in 1128–32 and 1140–64.<ref name=Pringle>{{cite book |title=<!-- Banyas (No. 42) |work= -->Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer |author=Denys Pringle |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=30 |isbn=978-0-521-10263-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC |access-date=4 May 2015}}</ref> After victories by Sultan Nur ad-Din Zangi, it was the Kurdish dynasty of the Ayyubids under Sultan Saladin who ruled the area. The Mongols swept through in 1259, but were driven off by the Mamluk commander and future sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260.<ref>[https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/battle-ain-jalut Battle of Ain Jālūt], EBSCO Information Services. Accessed 17 March 2026. "The Battle of Ain Jālūt, fought on September 3, 1260, marked a significant turning point in Middle Eastern history as it halted the Mongol expansion into the region. Following the Mongol conquest of Baghdad and Damascus, the Mamlūk sultanate of Egypt, led by Sultan Quṭuz and his commander Baybars, mobilized to confront the Mongol forces commanded by Kitbuqa."</ref><ref name=HT2018/>
The victory at Ain Jalut allowed the Mamluks to focus their attention to eliminating the last of the Crusader strongholds and ensured their dominance of the region for the next 250 years.<ref name=HT2018>Waterson, James. [https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/who-were-mamluks "Who Were the Mamluks?"], ''History Today'', 5 September 2018. Accessed 17 March 2026. "The Mamluks ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 until 1517, when their dynasty was extinguished by the Ottomans.... The contemporary Arab historian Abu Shama noted after the Mamluk victory over the Mongols at Ayn Jalut in 1260 that, 'the people of the steppe had been destroyed by the people of the steppe.'"</ref>
===Ottoman period=== [[File:MPK1-426 Sykes Picot Agreement Map signed 8 May 1916.jpg|thumb|Sykes–Picot Agreement map, signed 8 May 1916, showing the Golan Heights in area "A", an independent Arab state in the French sphere of influence<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/peace-conference-memoranda-respecting-syria-arabia-palestine|title=Peace conference: memoranda respecting Syria, Arabia and Palestine|access-date=6 January 2023}}</ref>]]
In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turks conquered Syria. During this time, the Golan formed part of the Hauran Sanjak. During the 1560s, Ottoman official Mustafa Lala Pasha established al-Qunaytira as an important regional center, building a caravanserai, a mosque and shops, and endowing them with properties in dozens of villages around the Golan.<ref>Reference: R. Marom, "S [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0zf1p3d1 ukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy's Endowment Deeds]," in K. Raphael and M. Abbasi (ed.s), ''The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri 'Arra''f, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 60</ref>
Some Druze communities were established in the Golan during the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |first=John A. |last=Shoup |title=Culture and customs of Jordan |page=31 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2007 |series=Culture and customs of the Middle East |isbn=978-0-313-33671-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dm7Ups_zsbcC&pg=PA31 |access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref> The villages were abandoned during previous periods due to raids by Bedouin tribes were not resettled until the second half of the 19th century.<ref name= FRS/>
Throughout the 18th century, the Al Fadl, an Arab tribe long established in the Levant, struggled against Turkmen and Kurdish tribesmen over control of the Golan.{{sfn|Chatty|1977|p=394}} The Fadl's presence in the Golan was observed by Burckhardt in the early 19th century.{{sfn|Chatty|1977|p=392}}
Transhumance in the Golan remained a long-lasting phenomenon because of the region's harsh winters. The winters "forced tribespeople until the 19th century to live in hundreds of rudimentary 'winter villages' in their tribal territory." Starting in the second part of the 19th century, the villages became "fixed and formed the nucleus of fully sedentary life in the 20th century Golan."<ref>Roy Marom, "[https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0zf1p3d1 Sukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy's Endowment Deeds]," in Kate Raphael and Mustafa Abbasi (ed.s), ''The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri 'Arra''f, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 69-70.</ref>
In 1868, the region was described as "almost entirely desolate". According to a travel handbook of the time, only 11 of 127 ancient towns and villages in the Golan were inhabited.<ref>Porter, Josias Leslie. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BIZEWykI9fMC&pg=PA439 A handbook for travellers in Syria and Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024644/https://books.google.com/books?id=BIZEWykI9fMC&pg=PA439 |date=14 December 2022 }}, J. Murray, 1868. pg. 439. [Harvard University, 4 January 2007]</ref> By the late 19th century, the Golan Heights was mostly inhabited by Arabs, Turkmen and Circassians.<ref>Schumacher (1888), pp. 42–61</ref> The Circassians, part of a large influx of refugees from the Caucasus into the empire as a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, were encouraged to settle in the Golan by the Ottoman authorities. They were granted lands with a 12-year tax exemption.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=t2Etjf8S8fgC&pg=PA64 The Caspian Region: The Caucasus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024652/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2Etjf8S8fgC&pg=PA64 |date=14 December 2022 }}, M. Gammer, pg. 64.</ref><ref>Gudrun Krämer. [https://archive.org/details/historyofpalesti00krea/page/137 <!-- pg=137 --> A history of Palestine: from the Ottoman conquest to the founding of the state of Israel], Princeton University Press, 2008. pg.137. {{ISBN|978-0-691-11897-0}}</ref><ref>David Dean Commins. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_EhACvcqVXkC&pg=PA77 Historical dictionary of Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024648/https://books.google.com/books?id=_EhACvcqVXkC&pg=PA77 |date=14 December 2022 }}, pg. 77.</ref> The Al Fadl, the Druze and the Circassians were often in conflict for local dominance. These struggles subsided with the Ottoman government's formal recognition of the Al Fadl's tribal territory and pasturelands in the Golan, which were invested in the name of the tribe's emir. The emir relocated to Damascus and collected rents from his tribesmen who thereafter settled in the area and engaged in a combination of farming and pastoralism.{{sfn|Chatty|1977|p=394}} The tribe settled in several villages in the area and controlled important roads to Damascus, Galilee and Lebanon.<ref name=Abbasi26>{{Harvnb|'Abbasi|Seltenreich|2007|p=26}}</ref> In the 19th century the tribe continued to expand their territory in the Golan and built two palaces.<ref name=Abbasi26/> The leader of the tribe joined Prince Faisal during the Arab revolt,<ref name=Abbasi27>{{Harvnb|'Abbasi|Seltenreich|2007|p=27}}</ref> and they supported the uprising against the French in the northern Golan.<ref name=Abbasi27 />
In 1885, civil engineer and architect, Gottlieb Schumacher, conducted a survey of the entire Golan Heights on behalf of the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land, publishing his findings in a map and book entitled ''The Jaulân''.<ref>Schumacher (1888), pp. 1–304</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schumacher |first=Gottlieb |author-link=Gottlieb Schumacher |title=Map of the Jaulan by Gottlieb Schumacher, C. E. 1885 / Edwd. Weller. lith. |publisher=London: Richard Bentley and Son |date=1888 |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/maps/NNL_ALEPH003954725/NLI#$FL45611977 |access-date=5 October 2020}}</ref>
====Modern Jewish settlement==== In 1880, Laurence Oliphant published ''{{lang|he-Latn|Eretz ha-Gilad}}'' (The Land of Gilead), which described a plan for large-scale Jewish settlement in the Golan.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=E5QSAQAAIAAJ&q=Oliphant A hundred years of settlement], Keter, 1985. pg. 200.</ref> In 1884, there were still open stretches of uncultivated land between villages in the lower Golan, but by the mid-1890s most were owned and cultivated.<ref>Martha Mundy, Basim Musallam. [https://books.google.com/books?id=iwxeHaKUGFMC&pg=PA40 The transformation of nomadic society in the Arab East] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024644/https://books.google.com/books?id=iwxeHaKUGFMC&pg=PA40 |date=14 December 2022 }}, Cambridge University Press, 2000. pg. 40. {{ISBN|978-0-521-77057-6}},</ref> Some land had been purchased in the Golan and Hawran by Zionist associations based in Romania, Bulgaria, the United States and England, in the late 19th century and early 20th century.<ref name=KATS>Kats, Yosef. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zgPtAAAAMAAJ&q=tiferet+binyamin The "business" of settlement: private entrepreneurship in the Jewish settlement of Palestine, 1900–1914] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024645/https://books.google.com/books?ei=JX1gTOaNJ8L48Abu4sG5DQ&ct=result&id=zgPtAAAAMAAJ&dq=tiferet+binyamin+golan&q=tiferet+binyamin |date=14 December 2022 }}, Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1994. p. 20. {{ISBN|978-965-223-863-4}}.</ref> In the winter of 1885, members of the Old Yishuv in Safed formed the Beit Yehuda Society and purchased {{Convert|15000|dunam}} of land from the village of Ramthaniye in the central Golan.<ref name= YGH>Gil-Har, Yitzhak (1981). "Separation of Trans-Jordan from Palestine". ''The Jerusalem Cathedra'', ed. Lee Levine, Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and Wayne State University, Jerusalem, p. 306.</ref>
Soon afterwards, the society regrouped and purchased {{Convert|2000|dunam}} of land from the village of Bir e-Shagum on the western slopes of the Golan.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWBxUi5fVS0C&q=Shagum+golan&pg=PA60 |title=Reshaping Palestine |isbn=978-0-275-96639-3 |last1=Sicker |first1=Martin |year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }}</ref> The village they established, Bnei Yehuda, existed until 1920.<ref name= MRF>Fishbach, M. R. (2008). ''Jewish property claims against Arab countries'', Columbia University Press, pp. 36-37.</ref><ref>Aharonson, Ran. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-Q9lnkLX8LAC&pg=PA98 Rothschild and early Jewish colonization in Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024651/https://books.google.com/books?id=-Q9lnkLX8LAC&pg=PA98 |date=14 December 2022 }}, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. pg. 98. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-0914-6}}</ref> The last families left in the wake of the Passover riots of 1920.<ref name= YGH/> In 1944, the Jewish National Fund bought the Bnei Yehuda lands from their Jewish owners, but a later attempt to establish Jewish ownership of the property in Bir e-Shagum through the courts was not successful.<ref name= MRF/><!-- (In the 1930s, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) acquired around 12,000 dunams on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and built kibbutz Ein Gev.)</ref> -->
Between 1891 and 1894, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild purchased around {{Convert|150000|dunam}} of land in the Golan and the Hawran for Jewish settlement.<ref name= YGH/> Legal and political permits were secured and ownership of the land was registered in late 1894.<ref name= YGH/> The Jews also built a road stretching from Lake Hula to Muzayrib.<ref name= MRF/> The Agudat Ahim society, whose headquarters were in Yekaterinoslav, Russia, acquired {{Convert|100000|dunam}} of land in several locations in the districts of Fiq and Daraa. A plant nursery was established and work began on farm buildings in Jillin.<ref name= YGH/> A village called Tiferet Binyamin was established on lands purchased from Saham al-Jawlan by the Shavei Zion Association based in New York,<ref name=KATS/> but the project was abandoned after a year when the Turks issued an edict in 1896 evicting the 17 non-Turkish families. A later attempt to resettle the site with Syrian Jews who were Ottoman citizens also failed.<ref name=Orni1971 >Orni, Efraim; Efrat, Elisha. [https://archive.org/details/geographyofisrae00orni/page/n5/mode/2up ''Geography of Israel''], Israel Universities Press, 1971. Accessed 17 March 2026.</ref>
Between 1904 and 1908, a group of Crimean Jews settled near the Arab village of al-Butayha in the Bethsaida Valley, initially as tenants of a Kurdish proprietor with the prospects of purchasing the land, but the arrangement faltered.<ref name=Orni1971/><ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22attempted+settlement+also+in+1908+in+the+Bet+Zayyada+%22&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=bks%3A1&sa=2 Military government in the territories administered by Israel, 1967–1980] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118010635/http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22attempted+settlement+also+in+1908+in+the+Bet+Zayyada+%22&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=bks%3A1&sa=2 |date=18 January 2016 }}, Hebrew University Jerusalem, Faculty of Law, Harry Sacher Institute for Legislature Research and Comparative Law, 1982, p. 102.</ref> Jewish settlement in the region dwindled over time, due to Arab hostility, Turkish bureaucracy, disease and economic difficulties.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=I08uAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Zayyada+Valley+in+1908.%22 Jewish spectator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024719/https://books.google.com/books?id=I08uAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Zayyada+Valley+in+1908.%22&dq=%22Zayyada+Valley+in+1908.%22&hl=en&ei=qfheTNOdEsO78gbosuy1DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA |date=14 December 2022 }}, Volume 60, 1995.</ref> In 1921–1930, during the French Mandate, the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA) obtained the deeds to the Rothschild estate and continued to manage it, collecting rents from the Arab peasants living there.<ref name= MRF/>
===French and British mandates=== thumb|300px|Boundary changes in the area of the Golan Heights in the 20th century
Great Britain accepted a Mandate for Palestine at the meeting of the Allied Supreme Council at San Remo, but the borders of the territory were not defined at that stage.<ref>{{harvnb|Biger|2005|p=173}}</ref><ref>Chaim Weizmann, subsequently reported to his colleagues in London: "There are still important details outstanding, such as the actual terms of the mandate and the question of the boundaries in Palestine. There is the delimitation of the boundary between French Syria and Palestine, which will constitute the northern frontier and the eastern line of demarcation, adjoining Arab Syria. The latter is not likely to be fixed until the Emir Faisal attends the Peace Conference, probably in Paris." See: 'Zionist Aspirations: Dr Weizmann on the Future of Palestine', ''The Times'', Saturday, 8 May 1920; p. 15.</ref> The boundary between the forthcoming British and French mandates was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December 1920.<ref name= treaty1920>Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed 23 December 1920. Text available in ''American Journal of International Law'', Vol. 16, No. 3, 1922, 122–126.</ref> That agreement placed the bulk of the Golan Heights in the French sphere. The treaty also established a joint commission to settle the precise details of the border and mark it on the ground.<ref name= treaty1920/>
The commission submitted its final report on 3 February 1922, and it was approved with some caveats by the British and French governments on 7 March 1923, several months before Britain and France assumed their Mandatory responsibilities on 29 September 1923.<ref>Agreement between His Majesty's Government and the French Government respecting the Boundary Line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hámmé, Treaty Series No. 13 (1923), Cmd. 1910. Also Louis, 1969, p. 90.</ref><ref>[http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS075.pdf FSU Law] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060916035757/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS075.pdf |date=16 September 2006 }}.</ref> In accordance with the same process, a nearby parcel of land that included the ancient site of Tel Dan and the Dan spring were transferred from Syria to Palestine early in 1924.
The Golan Heights, including the spring at Wazzani and the one at Banias, became part of French Syria, while the Sea of Galilee was placed entirely within British Mandatory Palestine. When the French Mandate for Syria ended in 1944, the Golan Heights became part of the newly independent state of Syria and was later incorporated into Quneitra Governorate.
=== Border incidents after 1948 === thumb|A minefield warning sign in the Golan
After the 1948–49 Arab–Israeli War, the Golan Heights was partly demilitarized by the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement. During the following years, the area along the border witnessed thousands of violent incidents; the armistice agreement was being violated by both sides. The underlying causes of the conflict were a disagreement over the legal status of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), cultivation of land within it and competition over water resources. Syria claimed that neither party had sovereignty over the DMZ.<ref name= RGR/><ref name= Brink>Itamar Rabinovich. ''The Brink of Peace: The Israeli–Syrian Negotiations'', p. 19.</ref>
Israel contended that the Armistice Agreement dealt solely with military concerns and that it had political and legal rights over the DMZ. Israel wanted to assert control up to the boundary established in the 1923 Paulet–Newcombe Agreement in order to claim the Hula swamp, gain exclusive rights to Lake Galilee and divert water from the Jordan for its National Water Carrier. During the 1950s, Syria registered two principal territorial accomplishments: it took over Al Hammah enclosure south of Lake Tiberias and established a ''de facto'' presence on and control of the eastern shore of the lake.<ref name= RGR>{{Cite book |last= Rabil |first=Robert G. |title= Embattled neighbors: Syria, Israel, and Lebanon |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-58826-149-6 |pages=15–16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heR4OG-LdIYC}}</ref><ref name= Brink/>
Israel expelled Arabs from the DMZ and demolished their homes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Finkelstein|2003|pp=131–132, 186}}</ref> Palestinian refugees were denied the right of return or compensation, and because of this they started raids on Israel.<ref name=Finkelstein133>{{Harvnb|Finkelstein|2003|p=133}}</ref> The Syrian government supported the Palestinian attacks because of Israel taking over more land in the DMZ.<ref name=Finkelstein133/>
The Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan was sponsored by the United States and agreed by the technical experts of the Arab League and Israel.<ref name="GrSh" /> The U.S. funded the Israeli and Jordanian water diversion projects, when they pledged to abide by the plan's allocations.<ref name="Sosland2007p70" /> President Nasser too, assured the U.S. that the Arabs would not exceed the plan's water quotas.<ref name="Gat" /> However, in the early 1960s the Arab League funded a Syrian water diversion project that would have denied Israel use of a major portion of its water allocation.<ref name="ASh" /> The resulting armed clashes are called the War over Water.<ref name="Murakami" />
In 1955, Israel launched an attack that killed 56 Syrian soldiers. The attack was condemned by the United Nations Security Council.<ref name=Finkelstein132>{{Harvnb|Finkelstein|2003|p=132}}</ref>
In July 1966,<ref>M. Shemesh, Prelude to the Six-Day War: The Arab–Israeli Struggle Over Water Resources, ''Israel Studies'', vol 9, no. 3, 2004.</ref> Fatah began raids into Israeli territory, with active support from Syria. At first the militants entered via Lebanon or Jordan, but those countries made concerted attempts to stop them and raids directly from Syria increased.<ref name= MSh06>M. Shemesh, "The Fida'iyyun Organization's Contribution to the Descent to the Six-Day War", ''Israel Studies'', vol 11, no. 1, 2006.</ref> Israel's response was a series of retaliatory raids, of which the largest were an attack on the Jordanian village of Samu in November 1966.<ref>M. Shemesh, "The IDF Raid on Samu: The Turning-Point In Jordan's Relations With Israel and the West Bank Palestinians", ''Israel Studies'', vol 7, no. 1, 2002.</ref> In April 1967, after Syria heavily shelled Israeli villages from the Golan Heights, Israel shot down six Syrian MiG fighter planes and warned Syria against future attacks.<ref name= MSh06/><ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570433/Six-Day_War.html "Six-Day War"], Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028003226/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570433/Six-Day_War.html Archived] 31 October 2009.</ref>
The Israelis used to send tractors with armed police into the DMZ, which prompted Syria firing at Israel.<ref name=Finkelstein132/> In the period between the first Arab–Israeli War and the Six-Day War, the Syrians constantly harassed Israeli border communities by firing artillery shells from their dominant positions on the Golan Heights.<ref>Sicker, Martin, Israel's quest for security, New York. Praeger Publishing (1989), pp. 92–95</ref> In October 1966 Israel brought the matter up before the United Nations. Five nations sponsored a resolution criticizing Syria for its actions but it failed to pass.<ref>Eban, Abba, Abba Eban. An Autobiography, New York: Random House (1977) pp. 313-314</ref><ref>Gilbert, Martin, The Arab–Israeli Conflict: Its History in Maps, 4th ed, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1985) pp. 63–64</ref> No Israeli civilian was killed in half a year leading up to the Six-Day War and the Syrian attacks have been called "largely symbolic".<ref name=Finkelstein132/>
Former Israeli General Mattityahu Peled said that more than half of the border clashes before the 1967 war "were a result of our security policy of maximum settlement in the demilitarized area".<ref name = "WA Rep">[http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1191/9111023.htm Washington Report on Middle East Affairs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029070950/http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1191/9111023.htm |date=29 October 2005 }}, 1991-11.</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2021}} Israeli incursions into the zone were responded to with Syrians shooting. Israel in turn would retaliate with military force.<ref name= RGR/> According to Finkelstein, the narrative of Syrians attacking "innocent" Israel from the Golan Heights can be construed as "historical revisionism".<ref name=Finkelstein132/>
In 1976, former Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan said Israel provoked more than 80% of the clashes with Syria in the run up to the 1967 war, although two Israeli historians debate whether he was "giving an accurate account of the situation in 1967 or whether his version of what happened was colored by his disgrace after the 1973 Middle East war, when he was forced to resign as Defense Minister over the failure to anticipate the Arab attack."<ref name = nyt1>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/11/world/general-s-words-shed-a-new-light-on-the-golan.html |work=The New York Times |title=General's Words Shed a New Light on the Golan |first=Serge |last=Schmemann |date=11 May 1997 |access-date=3 May 2010}}</ref> The provocation was sending a tractor to plow in the demilitarized areas to get the Syrians to attack. The Syrians responded by firing at the tractors and shelling Israeli settlements.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=heR4OG-LdIYC&pg=PA15 Embattled neighbors: Syria, Israel, and Lebanon, By Robert G Rabil, p.15-16.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024645/https://books.google.com/books?id=heR4OG-LdIYC&lpg=PA15 |date=14 December 2022 }}, They followed to a great extent a pattern of action and reaction. Israel would move tractors and equipment, often guarded by police, into disputed areas of the DMZ. From its high ground positions. Syria would fire at those advancing, and would frequently shell Israeli settlements in the Huleh Valley. Israel would retaliate with excessive raids on Syrian positions, including the use of air power.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCnY_VN9AjIC&pg=PA500 |title=The Defense Policies of Nations |isbn=978-0-8018-4794-3 |last1=Murray |first1=Douglas J. |last2=Viotti |first2=Paul R. |year=1994|publisher=JHU Press }}</ref> Jan Mühren, a former UN observer in the area at the time, told a Dutch current affairs programme that Israel "provoked most border incidents as part of its strategy to annex more land".<ref>*{{cite web |title=Andere kijk op Zesdaagse Oorlog |url=http://www.novatv.nl/page/detail/uitzendingen/5206 |website=Novatv |date=4 June 2007 |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706041219/http://www.novatv.nl/page/detail/uitzendingen/5206 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Six-Day War deliberately provoked by Israel: former Dutch UN observer |url=http://www.deepjournal.com/p/7/a/en/729.html |website=DeepJournal |date=8 June 2007 }}</ref> UN officials blamed both Israel and Syria for destabilizing the borders.<ref>Rabil, Robert G. ''Embattled neighbors: Syria, Israel, and Lebanon'', p. 15, "UN officials found fault with the policies of both Israel and Syria and often accused the 2 countries of destabilizing the Israeli–Syrian borders".</ref>
===Six-Day War and Israeli occupation=== {{See also|Six-Day War|Israeli Military Governorate}} After the Six-Day War broke out in June 1967, Syria began shelling towns in Israel's north, which was disregarded for the first few days of the war, until the Israel Defense Forces captured the Golan Heights on 9–10 June.<ref>Westervelt, Eric. [https://www.npr.org/2007/06/04/10619929/six-day-war-shaping-the-modern-middle-east "Six Day War: Shaping the Modern Middle East"], ''WNYC]'', June 4, 2007. Accessed April 1, 2026. "In the opening day's fight, Syrian fighter jets attacked Haifa, Israel's most populous northern city. The Israeli air force quickly hit back at Syrian bases, effectively taking out the Syrian air force. In the meantime, Syrian artillery units in the Golan Heights began shelling Rosh Pina and other towns in Israel's north. Israel largely ignored the artillery at first.... The final two days of war were largely a fight with Syria. After Israeli intelligence learned that Syrian forces were near collapse, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan ordered Operation Hammer. Israel quickly gained control of the Golan Heights."</ref> The area that came under Israeli control as a result of the war consists of two geologically distinct areas: the Golan Heights proper, with a surface of {{cvt|1070|km2|sqmi}}, and the slopes of the Mount Hermon range, with a surface of {{cvt|100|km2|sqmi}}. The new ceasefire line was named the Purple Line. In the Golan Heights’ battle, 115 Israelis were killed and 306 wounded. An estimated 2,500 Syrians were killed, with another 5,000 wounded.<ref>Slater, Robert. ''Warrior Statesman: The Life of Moshe Dayan'', Robson Books, London (1992), p. 277.</ref>
thumb|250px|Forced transfer and displacement. Syrian civilians, hands raised, before Israeli soldiers, leave their homes in the Golan Heights.|left
During the war, between 80,000<ref name=MORRIS>{{harvnb|Morris|2001|p=327}}: "Another eighty to ninety thousand civilians fled or were driven from the Golan Heights."</ref> and 131,000<ref name=almarsad/> Syrians fled or were expelled from the Heights, and around 7,000 remained in the Israeli-occupied territory.<ref name=almarsad/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Haokets |date=18 July 2017 |title=The Syrian refugees Israelis prefer to forget |url=https://www.972mag.com/the-syrian-refugees-israelis-prefer-to-forget/ |access-date=20 August 2025 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Israeli sources and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants reported that much of the local population of 100,000 fled as a result of the war, whereas the Syrian government stated that a large proportion of it was expelled.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/052C5608BA2DEC58802570B8005AA937 |title=Different accounts on whether Golan inhabitants were expelled or whether they fled (1997–2002) |access-date=18 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222611/http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/052C5608BA2DEC58802570B8005AA937 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Among those forced out was the Fadl tribe.<ref>{{Harvnb|'Abbasi|Seltenreich|2007|p=25}}</ref> Israel has disallowed former residents to return, citing security reasons.<ref name = "WA Rep2">{{cite web |url=http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/062000/0006010.html |title=A View From Damascus: Internal Refugees From Golan's 244 Destroyed Syrian Villages |publisher=Washington-report.org |access-date=26 March 2013}}</ref> The remaining villages were Majdal Shams, Shayta (later destroyed), Ein Qiniyye, Mas'ade, Buq'ata and, outside the Golan proper, Ghajar. [[File:Dan_Hadani_collection_(990044455670205171).jpg|thumb|Military police headquarters in Quneitra under Israeli occupation, 1969.]] Israeli settlement in the Golan began soon after the war. Merom Golan was founded in July 1967, and by 1970, there were 12 settlements.<ref>[http://english.golan.org.il/vaad/efacts.asp Golan Facts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821032728/http://english.golan.org.il/vaad/efacts.asp |date=21 August 2006 }}.</ref> Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until 1981, when Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory.<ref name= MFALaw>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Golan+Heights+Law.htm Golan Heights Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331145022/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Golan+Heights+Law.htm |date=31 March 2019 }}, MFA.</ref> On 19 June 1967, the Israeli cabinet voted to return the Golan to Syria in exchange for a peace agreement, although this was rejected after the Khartoum Resolution of 1 September 1967.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunstan |first=Simon |title=The Six Day War 1967: Jordan and Syria |year=2009 |publisher=Osprey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uk3HcrMpTW8C&pg=PA88 |isbn=978-1-84603-364-3 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>Herzog, Chaim, The Arab Israeli Wars, New York: Random House (1982) pp. 190-191</ref> In the 1970s, as part of the Allon Plan, Israeli politician Yigal Allon proposed that a Druze state be established in Syria's Quneitra Governorate, including the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Allon died in 1980 and his plan never materialised.<ref>Eldar, Akiva. [https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988828.html A matter of a few dozen meters] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122050804/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988828.html |date=22 November 2008 }}, ''Haaretz'', 1 June 2008.</ref>
==== Yom Kippur War ==== During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Syrian forces overran much of the southern Golan, before being pushed back by an Israeli counterattack. Israel and Syria signed a ceasefire agreement in 1974 that left almost all the Heights in Israeli hands. The agreement delineated a demilitarized zone along the border and limited the number of forces each side can deploy within {{Convert|25|km}} of the zone.<ref>{{cite news |last=Isachenkov |first=Vladimir |title=Putin and Netanyahu meet for Syria-focused talks in Moscow |language=en |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Yahoo |date=11 July 2018 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-meet-israeli-pm-iranian-official-moscow-123502160.html |access-date=12 July 2018 |archive-date=12 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712221302/https://www.yahoo.com/news/putin-meet-israeli-pm-iranian-official-moscow-123502160.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the aftermath of the war and under the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 350, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force was assigned responsibility to oversee the demilitarized zone.<ref>[https://undof.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/40%20years%20anniversary.pdf#page=7 ''UNDOF: A New Beginning''], United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, June 2014. Accessed 17 March 2026. "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 UNDOF."</ref>
East of the 1974 ceasefire line, lies the Syrian controlled part of the Heights, an area covering {{Convert|500|km2}} that was not captured by Israel or {{Convert|100|km2}} that they had not withdrawn from. This area forms 30% of the Golan Heights.<ref>The Middle East and North Africa 2003, Occupied Territories, The Golan Heights, page 604.{{full citation needed|date=October 2024}}</ref> Today,{{when|date=January 2021}} it contains more than 40 Syrian towns and villages. In 1975, following the 1974 ceasefire agreement, Israel returned a narrow demilitarized zone to Syrian control. Some of the displaced residents started to return to their homes there, supported by the Syrian government’s rebuilding efforts, except for Quneitra. In the mid-1980s, the Syrian government launched "The Project for the Reconstruction of the Liberated Villages".{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} By the end of 2007, the population of the Quneitra Governorate was estimated at 79,000.<ref name=SanaQuneitraGovPop>{{cite web |url=http://www.sana.sy/ara/134/2008/01/14/156322.htm |script-title=ar:الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء |work=sana.sy |language=ar |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225165548/http://www.sana.sy/ara/134/2008/01/14/156322.htm |archive-date=25 February 2009}}</ref>
Mines deployed by the Syrian army remain active. {{As of|2003}}, there had been at least 216 landmine casualties in the Syrian-controlled Golan since 1973, of which 108 were fatalities.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czKwMrKV-HIC&pg=PA696 |title=Landmine Monitor Report 2003 |date=2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024711/https://books.google.com/books?id=czKwMrKV-HIC&pg=PA696 |archive-date=14 December 2022 |publisher=International Campaign to Ban Landmines |page=696 |isbn=978-1-56432-287-6}}</ref>
====Annexation by Israel==== {{See also|Golan Heights Law}}
thumb|Golan Heights wind farm on Mount Bnei Rasan
On 14 December 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law,<ref name= MFALaw/> extending Israeli "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights. Although the law effectively annexed the territory to Israel, it did not explicitly spell out a formal annexation.<ref>Marshall, Edgar S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aTqU-YskSpwC&pg=PA34 Israel: current issues and historical background] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022005211/https://books.google.com/books?id=aTqU-YskSpwC&pg=PA34 |date=22 October 2022 }}, Nova Publishers, 2002. pg. 34. {{ISBN|978-1-59033-325-9}}.</ref> The Golan Heights Law was declared "null and void and without international legal effect" by United Nations Security Council Resolution 497, which also demanded that Israel rescind its decision.<ref name='un_scr_1981'>United Nations. [https://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1981/scres81.htm Security Council Resolutions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814051303/http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1981/scres81.htm |date=14 August 2018 }}, 1981.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1981 |title=Resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981 |url=https://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/497/ |access-date=March 27, 2026 |website=unscr.com |publisher=United Nations Security Council}}</ref><ref name= condemn/><ref name= Res497/>
During the negotiations regarding the text of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk explained that U.S. support for secure permanent frontiers did not mean the United States supported territorial changes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Document 487 |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d487 |work=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIX, Arab–Israeli Crisis and War |publisher=U.S. State Department |access-date=26 October 2010}}</ref> The UN representative for the United Kingdom, responsible for negotiating and drafting the Security Council resolution, said that the actions of the Israeli Government in establishing settlements and colonizing the Golan are in clear defiance of Resolution 242.<ref>{{cite book |last=(Baron) Caradon |first=Hugh Foot |title=U.N. Security Council Resolution 242: A Case Study in Diplomatic Ambiguity |year=1981 |publisher=Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University |isbn=978-0-934742-11-5 |page=12}}</ref>
Syria continued to demand a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, including a strip of land on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee that Syria captured during the 1948–49 Arab–Israeli War and occupied from 1949 to 1967. Successive Israeli governments have considered an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan in return for normalization of relations with Syria, provided certain security concerns are met. Prior to 2000, Syrian president Hafez al-Assad rejected normalization with Israel.
Since the passing of the Golan Heights Law, Israel has treated the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights as a subdistrict of its Northern District.<ref name= Eur03>{{cite book |author=Taylor & Francis Group |title=The Europa World Year Book 2003 |publisher=Routledge |series=Europa World Yearbook |issue=v. 1, pts. 1–2 |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85743-227-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLvU9lroRuUC&pg=PA2217 |access-date=19 March 2019 |page=2217}}</ref> The largest locality in the region is the Druze village of Majdal Shams, which is at the foot of Mount Hermon, while Katzrin is the largest Israeli settlement. The region covers {{Convert|1176|km2}}.<ref name= Eur03/> The subdistrict has a population density of {{Convert|36|PD/sqkm}},{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} and its population includes Arab, Jewish and Druze citizens. The district has 36 localities, of which 32 are Jewish settlements and four are Druze villages.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Christian Science Monitor |title=Yearning for the Golan Heights: why Syria wants it back |website=The Christian Science Monitor |date=28 September 2009 |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2009/0928/p06s05-wome.html |access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref><ref name=castellino>{{cite book |last1=Castellino |first1=Joshua |last2=Cavanaugh |first2=Kathleen |title=Minority Rights in the Middle East |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-967949-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5mRxprCL9MC&pg=PA132 |access-date=19 March 2019 |page=132}}</ref>
The plan for the creation of the settlements, which had initially begun in October 1967 with a request for a regional agricultural settlement plan for the Golan, was formally approved in 1971 and later revised in 1976. The plan called for the creation of 34 settlements by 1995, one of which would be an urban center, Katzrin, and the rest rural settlements, with a population of 54,000, among them 40,000 urban and the remaining rural. By 1992, 32 settlements had been created, among them one city and two regional centers. The population total had however fallen short of Israel's goals, with only 12,000 Jewish inhabitants in the Golan settlements in 1992.<ref name=kipnis>{{cite book |last=Kipnis |first=Yigal |title=The Golan Heights: Political History, Settlement and Geography since 1949 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-74092-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94_HWZx0s8sC&pg=PA130 |access-date=19 March 2019 |pages=130–144}}</ref>
===== Municipal elections in Druze towns ===== In 2016, a group of Druze lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court of Israel to allow elections for local councils in the Golan Druze towns of Majdal Shams, Buq'ata, Mas'ade, and Ein Qiniyye, replacing the previous system in which their members were appointed by the national government.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/golan-druze-communities-set-for-first-municipal-elections-and-many-are-fuming/ |title=Golan Druze communities set for first municipal elections — and many are fuming |last=Rasgon |first=Adam |website=The Times of Israel |date=28 October 2018 |language=en-US |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref>
On 3 July 2017, the Interior Ministry announced those towns would be included in the 2018 Israeli municipal elections. The turnout was just over 1%<ref>{{cite web |url=http://golan-marsad.org/wp-content/uploads/More-Shadows-than-Lights-Local-Election-in-the-Occupied-Syrian-Golan-1.pdf |title=More Shadows than Lights–Local Elections in the Occupied Syrian Golan |website=Al-Marsad |access-date=16 June 2019}}</ref> with Druze religious leaders telling community members to boycott the elections or face shunning.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-municipal-election-druze-idUSKCN1N413M |title=Druze on Golan Heights protest against Israeli municipal election |date=30 October 2018 |work=Reuters |access-date=17 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-many-golan-druze-voting-in-first-ever-municipal-election-remainstaboo/ |title=For many Golan Druze, voting in first-ever municipal election remains taboo |last=Mraffko |first=Clothilde |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-09-06/ty-article/.premium/torn-between-syria-and-israel-golan-druze-divided-over-first-election/0000017f-e26f-d568-ad7f-f36f2ea00000 |title=An Experiment in Democracy: Torn Between Syria and Israel, Golan Druze Divided Over First Election |last=Mackie |first=Kyle S. |date=6 September 2018 |work=Haaretz |access-date=17 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
The UN Human Rights Council issued a Resolution on Human Rights in the Occupied Syrian Golan on 23 March 2018 that included the statement "Deploring the announcement by the Israeli occupying authorities in July 2017 that municipal elections would be held on 30 October 2018 in the four villages in the occupied Syrian Golan, which constitutes another violation to international humanitarian law and to relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 497 (1981)".<ref>{{cite web |title=Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories |url=http://undocs.org/A/HRC/37/L.18 |website=United Nations Official Document System |access-date=14 December 2024 |date=16 March 2018}}</ref>
=== Israeli–Syrian peace negotiations === During United States-brokered negotiations in 1999–2000, Israel and Syria discussed a peace deal that would include Israeli withdrawal in return for a comprehensive peace structure, recognition and full normalization of relations. The disagreement in the final stages of the talks was on access to the Sea of Galilee. Israel offered to withdraw to the pre-1948 border (the 1923 Paulet-Newcombe line), while Syria insisted on the 1967 frontier. The former line has never been recognised by Syria, claiming it was imposed by the colonial powers, while the latter was rejected by Israel as the result of Syrian aggression.<ref name= Baker>{{cite web |url=http://bakerinstitute.org/Pubs/wp_israelsyria.pdf |title=Can Israel and Syria Reach Peace?: Obstacles, Lessons, and Prospects |date=March 2005 |author=Moshe Ma'oz |access-date=6 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912185915/http://bakerinstitute.org/Pubs/wp_israelsyria.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=12 September 2007}}</ref>
While the difference between the lines is less than {{Convert|100|m}} for the most part, the 1967 line would give Syria access to the Sea of Galilee, and Israel wished to retain control of the Sea of Galilee, its only freshwater lake and a major water resource.<ref name= Baker/> Dennis Ross, U.S. President Bill Clinton's chief Middle East negotiator, blamed "cold feet" on the part of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for the breakdown.<ref>Ross, Missing Peace, p. 589</ref> Clinton also laid blame on Israel, as he said after the fact in his autobiography ''My Life''.<ref>Clinton, My Life pp. 883-88,903</ref>
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Soldiers in Deep Snow.jpg|thumb|upright|Israeli soldiers of the Alpinist Unit are dispatched to Mount Hermon.]]
In June 2007, it was reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had sent a secret message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad saying that Israel would concede the land in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement and the severing of Syria's ties with Iran and militant groups in the region.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3410174,00.html |title=Olmert to Assad: Israel willing to withdraw from Golan Heights |newspaper=Ynetnews |access-date=8 June 2007 |date=8 June 2007 |publisher=Ynet News}}</ref> On the same day, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the former Syrian President, Hafez al-Assad, had promised to let Israel retain Mount Hermon in any future agreement.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3410090,00.html |title=Hafez Assad conceded Mt Hermon, says Netanyahu |newspaper=Ynetnews |access-date=8 June 2007 |date=8 June 2007 |publisher=Ynet News}}</ref>
In April 2008, Syrian media reported Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had told President Bashar al-Assad that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7362937.stm |title=BBC NEWS – Middle East – Israel 'ready to return Golan' |work=BBC |date=23 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3534884,00.html |title=Syrian report: Olmert agreed to concede Golan Heights |first=Roee |last=Nahmias |work=Ynet |access-date= 23 April 2008}}</ref> Israeli leaders of communities in the Golan Heights held a special meeting and stated: "all construction and development projects in the Golan are going ahead as planned, propelled by the certainty that any attempt to harm Israeli sovereignty in the Golan will cause severe damage to state security and thus is doomed to fail".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3535541,00.html |title=Attempt to cede Golan doomed to fail, say local leaders |first=Hagai |last=Einav |work=Ynet |access-date= 24 April 2008}}</ref> A 2008 survey found that 70% of Israelis oppose relinquishing the Golan for peace with Syria.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Poll-70-percent-oppose-relinquishing-Golan-Heights |title=Poll: 70% oppose relinquishing Golan Heights |date=21 May 2008 |publisher=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref>
In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution 161–1 in favour of a motion on the Golan Heights that reaffirmed UN Security Council Resolution 497 and called on Israel to desist from "changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and, in particular, to desist from the establishment of settlements [and] from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards on the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan and from its repressive measures against the population of the occupied Syrian Golan." Israel was the only nation to vote against the resolution.<ref name="GA/10794"/> Indirect talks broke down after the Gaza War began. Syria broke off the talks to protest Israeli military operations. Israel subsequently appealed to Turkey to resume mediation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3751170,00.html |title=Report: Israel asked to resume Syria talks – Israel News, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=26 March 2013 |last1=Nahmias |first1=Roee}}</ref>
In May 2009, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that returning the Golan Heights would turn it into "Iran's front lines which will threaten the whole state of Israel".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArtStEng.jhtml?itemNo=986206&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&title=%27Netanyahu:%20Golan%20pullout%20would%20put%20Israel%20on%20Iran%27s%20front%20lines%27&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 |title=חדשות, ידיעות מהארץ והעולם – עיתון הארץ |work=הארץ}}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Netanyahu: Israel will never withdraw from Golan |author=Barak Ravid |newspaper=Haaretz |date=8 May 2009 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084194.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510141849/http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084194.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 May 2009}}</ref> He said: "I remember the Golan Heights without Katzrin, and suddenly we see a thriving city in the Land of Israel, which having been a gem of the Second Temple era has been revived anew."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://jta.org/news/article/2007/08/01/103366/NetanyahuGolan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531124429/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2007/08/01/103366/NetanyahuGolan |url-status=dead |title=JTA, Netanyahu: Golan ours forever, August 1, 2007 |archive-date=31 May 2012}}</ref> American diplomat Martin Indyk said that the 1999–2000 round of negotiations began during Netanyahu's first term (1996–1999), and he was not as hardline as he made out.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Indyk |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Indyk |title=Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2009}}</ref>
In March 2009, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed that indirect talks had failed after Israel did not commit to full withdrawal from the Golan Heights. In August 2009, he said that the return of the entire Golan Heights was "non-negotiable", it would remain "fully Arab", and would be returned to Syria.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3755265,00.html |title=Assad: Golan issue non-negotiable – Israel News, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=26 March 2013}}</ref>
In June 2009, Israeli President Shimon Peres said that Assad would have to negotiate without preconditions, and that Syria would not win territorial concessions from Israel on a "silver platter" while it maintained ties with Iran and Hezbollah.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3741957,00.html |title=Peres: Assad can't have both Golan and Hezbollah – Israel News, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=26 March 2013 |last1=Sofer |first1=Roni}}</ref> In response, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem demanded that Israel unconditionally cede the Golan Heights "on a silver platter" without any preconditions, adding that "it is our land," and blamed Israel for failing to commit to peace. Syrian President Assad claimed that there was "no real partner in Israel".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3742904,00.html |title=Syrian FM in response to Peres: Golan Heights belongs to us – Israel News, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynetnews.com |date=20 June 1995 |access-date=26 March 2013 |author=<!--Not stated-->}}</ref>
In 2010, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We must make Syria recognise that just as it relinquished its dream of a greater Syria that controls Lebanon ... it will have to relinquish its ultimate demand regarding the Golan Heights."<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel's Lieberman cautions Syria |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/201024174859584145.html |access-date=8 April 2011 |newspaper=Al Jazeera |date=4 February 2010 |quote='We must make Syria recognise that just as it relinquished its dream of a greater Syria that controls Lebanon ... it will have to relinquish its ultimate demand regarding the Golan Heights,' Lieberman said.}}</ref>
===Syrian civil war=== {{Further|Israel and the Syrian civil war}} [[File:Israeli Druze Keep An Eye Across Fence as Syria Upheaval Unfolds.webm|right|thumbtime=1:43|thumb|2011 VOA report about how Golan Druze were affected by the Syrian civil war]] From 2012 to 2018 in the Syrian civil war, the eastern Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Army, rebel factions of the Syrian opposition including the moderate Southern Front and jihadist al-Nusra Front, and factions affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/RL/PDF/RL33487/RL33487.158.pdf ''Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response''], Congressional Research Service, December 11, 2018. Accessed March 24, 2026.</ref>
The atrocities of the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIL, which from 2016 to 2018 controlled parts of the Syrian-administered Golan, added a new twist to the issue. In 2015, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Barack Obama to recognize Israeli claims to the territory because of these recent ISIL actions and because he said that modern Syria had likely "disintegrated" beyond the point of reunification.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Syria Reels, Israel Looks to Expand Settlements in Golan Heights |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/world/middleeast/syria-civil-war-israel-golan-heights.html |work=The New York Times |date=2 October 2015 |access-date=16 December 2015 |last1=Rudoren |first1=Jodi}}</ref> The White House dismissed Netanyahu's suggestion, stating that President Obama continued to support UN resolutions 242 and 497, and any alterations of this policy could strain American alliances with Western-backed Syrian rebel groups.<ref name=Haaretz>{{cite news |title=White House Official: U.S. Won't Recognize Israeli Sovereignty in Golan |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2015-11-12/ty-article/.premium/u-s-wont-recognize-israeli-sovereignty-in-golan-u-s-official-says/0000017f-e116-d75c-a7ff-fd9f83e70000 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=16 December 2015}}</ref>
In 2016, the Islamic State apologized to Israel after a firefight with Israeli soldiers in the area.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chloe|first=Farand|date=28 August 2017|title=Isis fighters 'attacked Israel Defense Forces unit, then apologised' claims former commander|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-israel-defence-force-apology-attack-unit-golan-heights-defense-minister-moshe-ya-alon-a7700616.html|work=The Independent|access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref>
After the April 2018 missile strikes against Syria by the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, a group of about 500 Druze in the Golan Heights town of Ein Qiniyye marched in support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Syria's Independence Day and in condemnation of the American-led strikes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20180417-golan-druze-rally-support-syrias-assad |title=Golan Druze rally in support of Syria's Assad |publisher=France24 |date=17 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/druze-in-israels-golan-heights-rally-in-support-of-syrias-assad/ |title=Druze in Israel's Golan Heights rally in support of Syria's Assad |publisher=Times of Israel |date=17 April 2018}}</ref>
In May 2018, after 20 Iranian rockets were launched at Israeli army positions in the western Golan Heights, the first direct attack by Iran against Israeli forces, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation House of Cards, a series of "extensive" air strikes against Iranian military installations in Syria.<ref>{{cite news |author=Loveday Morris |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iranian-forces-fire-rockets-at-israeli-military-in-first-direct-attack-ever-israeli-army-says/2018/05/09/62e3a526-52f7-11e8-a6d4-ca1d035642ce_story.html?noredirect=on |title=Iranian forces fire rockets at Israeli military in first direct attack ever, Israel's army says |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 May 2018}}</ref>
After waging a month-long 2018 Southern Syria offensive against the rebels and ISIL, the Syrian government regained control of the eastern Golan Heights on 31 July 2018.<ref name= boot/>
=== Gaza war spillover === {{further|2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon|Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)}} The day after the October 7 attacks, Hezbollah fired mortars at Northern Israel from Lebanese territory, and Israel responded with artillery fire.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fabian |first=Emanuel |date=2023-10-08 |title=Hezbollah claims mortar fire from Lebanon at Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hezbollah-claims-mortar-fire-from-lebanon-at-israel/ |access-date=2026-04-19 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref> Hostilities are still ongoing. In the first year following the attacks, Hezbollah fired 8,000 rockets into Israel, resulting in the displacement of 70,000 Israelis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Suter |first=Tara |date=September 22, 2024 |title=Hezbollah has fired more than 8,000 rockets toward Israel since Oct. 7: Ambassador |url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4893654-hezbollah-has-fired-more-than-8000-rockets-toward-israel-since-october-7-ambassador/ |access-date=April 19, 2026 |work=The Hill}}</ref> During the same period, Israeli reprisals resulted in the displacement of 1.4 million Lebanese people.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-31 |title=ISF removes displaced people's tents from Ramlet al-Baida |url=https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1433786/isf-removes-displaced-peoples-tents-from-ramlet-al-baida.html |access-date=2026-04-19 |website=L'Orient Today |language=en}}</ref>
In June 2024, after a wave of Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Hezbollah launched a series of rocket and drone attacks in the Golan Heights, causing the destruction of {{Convert|10000|dunam}} of open areas by fire and damaging parts of the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve, including hiking trails and the reserve's Black Canyon. An official from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said it would take years for the local flora to recover.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 June 2024 |title=Hezbollah rockets spark fires burning 10,000 dunams of open areas in north |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-rockets-spark-fires-burning-10000-dunams-of-open-areas-in-north/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=Times of Israel}}</ref>
A rocket fired from Lebanese territory struck a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on July 27, 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 July 2024 |title=Israel says Hezbollah rocket kills 12 at football ground, vows response |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/nine-people-killed-rocket-hits-football-pitch-israeli-occupied-golan-israel-2024-07-27/ |access-date=1 August 2024 |work=Reuters}}</ref> The strike resulted in the deaths of 12 Druze children. The IDF stated the rocket was fired by Hezbollah, a claim which Hezbollah denied.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2024 |title=Druze in shock as war between Israel and Hezbollah strikes home |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/druze-shock-war-between-israel-hezbollah-strikes-home-2024-07-29/ |access-date=1 August 2024 |work=Reuters}}</ref> US intelligence could not determine if the attack was intentional or a misfire, but they maintained that Hezbollah was responsible.<ref name="APNews20240728">{{cite news|title=Strike on Israeli Golan Heights kills 11 and threatens to spark a wider war. Hezbollah denies a role|url=https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-golan-kfar-kila-141600af654f48f733b33f9f0a26dbfe|first1=Tia|last1=Goldenberg|first2=Bassem|last2=Mroue|work=Associated Press|date=27 July 2024|access-date=28 July 2024|language=en|archive-date=28 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728000416/https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-golan-kfar-kila-141600af654f48f733b33f9f0a26dbfe|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Hezbollah, along with Iranian and Qatari state media, posited that an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor was to blame.<ref name="TheGuardian20240728">{{cite news |last1=Michaelson |first1=Ruth |title=Israel strikes Lebanon as diplomats try to prevent regional war |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/28/israel-strikes-lebanon-diplomats-prevent-regional-war-golan-heights-hezbollah |work=The Guardian |access-date=31 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hezbollah denies Israeli allegations of targeting Majdal Sham |url=https://en.mehrnews.com/news/218457/Hezbollah-denies-Israeli-allegations-of-targeting-Majdal-Sham/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728031544/https://en.mehrnews.com/amp/218457/ |archive-date=28 July 2024 |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=en.mehrnews.com|date=27 July 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hezbollah denies involvement in Israeli-occupied Golan attack |url=https://en.irna.ir/news/85550655/Hezbollah-denies-involvement-in-attack-on-Israeli-occupied-Golan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729022243/https://en.irna.ir/amp/85550655/ |archive-date=29 July 2024 |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=en.irna.ir|date=27 July 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=28 July 2024 |title=Pro-Iranian, Qatari outlets fail in attempts to blame Israel for Hezbollah massacre |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-812138 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728043437/https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-812138 |archive-date=28 July 2024 |access-date=28 July 2024 |work=The Jerusalem Post |language=en}}</ref>
=== 2024 Israeli invasion of Syria === Following the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives and the fall of the Assad regime, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered Israeli forces to seize the buffer zone on 8 December 2024, citing the abandonment of Syrian positions and the collapse of the 1974 ceasefire agreement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel grabs buffer zone in Syria's Golan Heights after al-Assad falls |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/israel-seizes-buffer-zone-in-syrias-golan-heights-after-al-assad-falls |access-date=8 December 2024 |work=Al Jazeera |date=8 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Israeli forces also launched strikes on Syrian military assets, including air strikes destroying the Syrian Navy and, it was claimed, 90% of Syria's known surface-to-air missiles.<ref name="Krever">{{cite news |last=Krever |first=Mick |title=Why Israel captured Syria's tallest mountain just hours after Assad fell |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/14/world/israel-syria-golan-mount-hermon-intl/index.html |access-date=14 December 2024 |website=CNN |date=15 December 2024 |lang=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227114757/https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/14/world/israel-syria-golan-mount-hermon-intl/index.html|archive-date=27 December 2024}}</ref>
Israel started violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement before Assad's fall in November with engineering work and battle tanks inside the demilitarized zone.<ref name="e751">{{cite web | last=Ebrahim | first=Nadeen | title=UN sounds alarm at Israel's 'severe violations' at key buffer zone with Syria | website= | date=13 November 2024 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/13/middleeast/un-israel-violation-golan-heights-syria-intl/index.html | access-date=9 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405002213/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/13/middleeast/un-israel-violation-golan-heights-syria-intl/index.html|archive-date=5 April 2025|publisher=CNN}}</ref> UNDOF had: "repeatedly engaged with the IDF to protest the construction"<ref name= e751/> In December, Israeli forces occupied Mount Hermon advancing as far as the town of Beqaasem, situated about {{Convert|25|km}} from Damascus. Holding Mount Hermon - at {{Convert|2800|m}} the highest point in Syria - would facilitate Israeli electronic surveillance deep in Syrian territory and provide additional warning with respect to military developments in the region.<ref name= Krever/>
A report from June 2025, showed that since the Israeli invasion of Syria in 2024, the Israelis have deforested large portions of the Quneitra governorate.<ref name="Khalaf">{{cite news|title=Israeli excavation and eviction orders indicate plans to occupy lands in Quneitra |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2025/06/israeli-excavation-and-eviction-orders-indicate-plans-to-occupy-lands-in-quneitra/|website=Enab Baladi|date=20 June 2025|last=Khalaf|first=Besan|access-date=29 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250802125039/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2025/06/israeli-excavation-and-eviction-orders-indicate-plans-to-occupy-lands-in-quneitra/|archive-date=2 August 2025}}</ref> Hundreds of acres of trees have been cut down by Israel including the Jabaatha Nature Reserve and Kudna forest have been destroyed.<ref name= Khalaf/> The deforestation threatens wildlife and biodiversity in the region.<ref name= Khalaf/> Syrian farmers have also been prohibited from entering their farmlands.<ref name= Khalaf/>
In January 2026, the Israeli military destroyed two historic buildings in the Golan, the al-Golan hospital and al-Andalus Cinema, both in Quneitra.<ref name="p814">{{cite web | title=الجيش الإسرائيلي يفجر مستشفى "الجولان" في القنيطرة | website=عنب بلدي | date=6 January 2026 | url=https://www.enabbaladi.net/790850/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b4-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a-%d9%8a%d9%81%d8%ac%d8%b1-%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%81%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ac%d9%88%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%86/ | language=ar | access-date=6 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 January 2026 |title=Israeli army sprays unknown substances on farmland in Quneitra |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2026/01/israeli-army-sprays-unknown-substances-on-farmland-in-quneitra/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260408101219/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2026/01/israeli-army-sprays-unknown-substances-on-farmland-in-quneitra/ |archive-date=8 April 2026 |access-date=8 April 2026 |publisher=Enab Baladi}}</ref>
In January 2026, several reports documented Israeli planes spraying chemicals on Syrian farmland and forests in the Golan Heights.<ref name="t957">{{cite web | last=Monitor | first=Euro-Med Human Rights | title=Israel's chemical spraying of farmland in Lebanon and Syria amounts to war crime, targets civilian survival | website=Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor | date=16 October 2025 | url=https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6973/Israel%E2%80%99s-chemical-spraying-of-farmland-in-Lebanon-and-Syria-amounts-to-war-crime,-targets-civilian-survival | access-date=6 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="i867">{{cite web | title=Olabi reaffirms Syria's refusal to relinquish territory or rights | website=Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) | date=30 January 2026 | url=https://sana.sy/en/politics/2293206/ | access-date=3 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="i439">{{cite web | title=Israeli forces raid Syria's Quneitra countryside, detain young man | website=Anadolu Ajansı | date=28 January 2026 | url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-forces-raid-syria-s-quneitra-countryside-detain-young-man/3812992 | access-date=3 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="d389">{{cite web | title=Israel shells Yarmouk Basin area in Syria | website=Shafaq News | date=29 January 2026 | url=https://shafaq.com/en/Middle-East/Israel-shells-Yarmouk-Basin-area-in-Syria | access-date=3 February 2026}}</ref> Israel spraying chemicals were also reported in southern Lebanon.<ref name="u485">{{cite web | last1=Gayle | first1=Damien | last2=Christou | first2=William | title=Israel accused of spraying cancer-linked herbicide on farms in southern Lebanon | website= | date=5 February 2026 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/05/israel-accused-of-spraying-cancer-linked-herbicide-on-farms-in-southern-lebanon | access-date=6 February 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260403120120/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/05/israel-accused-of-spraying-cancer-linked-herbicide-on-farms-in-southern-lebanon|archive-date=3 April 2026|publisher=The Guardian}}</ref> A sample from Lebanon showed that the chemical contained a carcinogenic classified herbicide, but in dozens of times higher concentration than normal usage.<ref name="u485"/><ref name="t957"/>
==Geography== [[File:Umm Qais Galilee-Golan panorama.jpg|750px|thumb|center|Sea of Galilee and southern Golan Heights, viewed from Umm Qais and the ruins of Gadara in Jordan]]
===Geology=== [[File:Golan heights rel89-orig.jpg|thumb|1994 CIA map of Golan Heights and vicinity]] The plateau that Israel controls is part of a larger area of volcanic basalt fields stretching north and east that were created in a series of volcanic eruptions that began recently in geological terms, almost 4 million years ago.<ref>{{cite book |last=Winter |first=Dave |title=Israel Handbook |year=1999 |publisher=Footprint Handbooks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0suiJ7Gj1QC&pg=PA742 |isbn=978-1-900949-48-4}}</ref> The rock forming the mountainous area in the northern Golan Heights, descending from Mount Hermon, differs geologically from the volcanic rocks of the plateau and has a different physiography. The mountains are characterised by lighter-colored, Jurassic-age limestone of sedimentary origin. Locally, the limestone is broken by faults and solution channels to form a karst-like topography in which springs are common.
Geologically, the Golan plateau and the Hauran plain to the east constitute a Holocene volcanic field that also extends northeast almost to Damascus. Much of the area is scattered with dormant volcanos, as well as cinder cones, such as Majdal Shams. The plateau also contains a crater lake, called Birkat Ram ("Ram Pool"), which is fed by both surface runoff and underground springs. These volcanic areas are characterised by basalt bedrock and dark soils derived from its weathering. The basalt flows overlie older, distinctly lighter-colored limestones and marls, exposed along the Yarmouk River in the south.
===Boundaries=== The geographic definition of the Golan varies but is generally defined as the area bound by the Jordan Valley to the west, which separates it from the Galilee in Israel, the Yarmouk River to the south, which separates it from the Jabal Ajlun region in Jordan, and the Sa'ar stream (a tributary of Nahal Hermon/Nahr Baniyas) to the north which separates it from Mount Hermon and the Hula Valley close to the border with Lebanon. The natural eastern boundary of the region is alternatively placed at the Ruqqad river or the Allan river further east, which separates the Golan from the Hauran plain of Syria.{{sfn|Cordesman|2008|pp=222–223}}
===Size=== The plateau's north–south length is approximately {{cvt|65|km|mi}} and its east–west width varies from {{cvt|12 to 25|km|mi|abbr=off}}.<ref name= ESM>{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=Edgar S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTqU-YskSpwC&pg=PA32 |title=Israel: Current Issues and Historical Background |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-59033-325-9 |page=32}}</ref><ref>United States, Central Intelligence Agency, Golan Heights and Vicinity : Oct 1994 [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g7462g.ct001957] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009181256/https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7462g.ct001957/|date=9 October 2021}}</ref>
Israel has captured, according to its own data, {{cvt|1150|km2|mi2}}.<ref>CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2011 [http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton62/st01_01.pdf AREA OF DISTRICTS, SUB-DISTRICTS, NATURAL REGIONS AND LAKES] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211073151/http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton62/st01_01.pdf |date=11 December 2015 }} (table 1.1)</ref> According to Syria, the Golan Heights measures {{cvt|1860|km2|mi2|0|abbr=out}}, of which {{cvt|1500|km2|mi2}} are occupied by Israel.<ref>[http://www.un.int/syria/golan.htm The Syrian Golan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008052046/http://www.un.int/syria/golan.htm |date=8 October 2010 }} – Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations</ref> According to the CIA, Israel holds {{cvt|1,300|km2|mi2}}.<ref name= Fact>{{Cite web |date=2 December 2021 |title=Syria |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109103654/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2021 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}}</ref>
===Topography=== thumb|Banyas waterfall at the foot of Mount Hermon
The area is hilly and elevated, overlooking the Jordan Rift Valley which contains the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River, and is itself dominated by the {{cvt|2,814|m|ft}} tall Mount Hermon.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conserva |first=Henry T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTQGBMpQW50C |title=Earth Tales: New Perspectives on Geography and History |year=2001 |isbn=9780759649729 |page=197|publisher=AuthorHouse }}</ref><ref name= Fact/> The Sea of Galilee at the southwest corner of the plateau<ref name= ESM/> and the Yarmouk River to the south are at elevations well below sea level<ref name= Fact/> (the sea of Galilee at about {{cvt|200|m|ft}}).<ref name= ESM/>
Topographically, the Golan Heights is a plateau with an average altitude of {{convert|1,000|m}},<ref name= Fact/> rising northwards toward Mount Hermon and sloping down to about {{cvt|400|m|ft}} elevation along the Yarmouk River in the south.<ref name= ESM/> The steeper, more rugged topography is generally limited to the northern half, including the foothills of Mount Hermon; on the south the plateau is more level.<ref name= ESM/>
There are several small peaks on the Golan Heights, most of them volcanic cones, such as Mount Agas ({{cvt|1,350|m|disp=comma}}), Mount Dov/Jebel Rous ({{cvt|1,529|m|disp=comma}}; northern peak {{cvt|1,524|m|disp=comma}}),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kipnis |first=Yigal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZBjtXWjhAC&pg=RA1-PT19 |title=The Golan Heights: Political History, Settlement and Geography since 1949 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-74099-2 |access-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024652/https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZBjtXWjhAC&pg=RA1-PT19 |archive-date=14 December 2022}}</ref> Mount Bental ({{cvt|1171|m|disp=comma}}) and opposite it Mount Avital ({{cvt|1204|m|disp=comma}}), Mount Ram ({{cvt|1188|m|disp=comma}}), and Tal Saki ({{convert|594|m|disp=comma}}).
====Subdivisions==== The broader Golan plateau exhibits a more subdued topography, generally ranging between {{cvt|120 and 520|m|ft}} in elevation. In Israel, the Golan plateau is divided into three regions: northern (between the Sa'ar and Jilabun valleys), central (between the Jilabun and Daliyot valleys), and southern (between the Daliyot and Yarmouk valleys). The Golan Heights is bordered on the west by a rock escarpment that drops {{cvt|500|m|ft}} to the Jordan River valley and the Sea of Galilee. In the south, the incised Yarmouk River valley marks the limits of the plateau and, east of the abandoned railroad bridge upstream of Hamat Gader and Al Hammah, it marks the recognised international border between Syria and Jordan.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf |title=Jordan—Syria Boundary |date=30 December 1969 |publisher=US Department of State |volume=94 |page=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327062139/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS094.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |via=Florida State University |series=International Boundary Study}}</ref>
===Climate and hydrology=== In addition to its strategic military importance, the Golan Heights is an important water resource, especially at the higher elevations, which are snow-covered in the winter and help sustain baseflow for rivers and springs during the dry season. The Heights receive significantly more precipitation than the surrounding, lower-elevation areas. The occupied sector of the Golan Heights provides or controls a substantial portion of the water in the Jordan River watershed, which in turn provides a portion of Israel's water supply. The Golan Heights supplies 15% of Israel's water.<ref>Haim Gvirtzman, ''Israel Water Resources, Chapters in Hydrology and Environmental Sciences'', Yad Ben-Zvi Press, Jerusalem {{in lang|he}} [http://www.water.gov.il/%EE%E0%E2%F8%E9+%EE%E9%E3%F2/%EE%F9%E0%E1%E9+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%E1%E9%F9%F8%E0%EC/%EE%F7%E5%F8%E5%FA+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%E4%E8%E1%F2%E9%E9%ED/%E0%E2%ED+%E4%EB%E9%F0%F8%FA/%EE%E0%E6%EF+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%F9%E0%E9%E1%E5%FA+%E5%EE%F4%EC%F1%E9%ED.htm Water.gov.il] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111041555/http://www.water.gov.il/%EE%E0%E2%F8%E9+%EE%E9%E3%F2/%EE%F9%E0%E1%E9+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%E1%E9%F9%F8%E0%EC/%EE%F7%E5%F8%E5%FA+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%E4%E8%E1%F2%E9%E9%ED/%E0%E2%ED+%E4%EB%E9%F0%F8%FA/%EE%E0%E6%EF+%E4%EE%E9%ED+%F9%E0%E9%E1%E5%FA+%E5%EE%F4%EC%F1%E9%ED.htm |date=11 January 2009 }} indicates that the Golan Heights contributes no more than 195 million m<sup>3</sup> per year to the Sea of Galilee, as well as another 120 million m<sup>3</sup> per year from the Banias River tributary. Israel's annual water consumption is about 2,000 million m<sup>3</sup>.</ref>
{{wide image|File:Nrthrdtrip 196PAN.jpg|x140px|Panorama looking west from the former Syrian post of Tel Faher|align-cap=center}} {{wide image|File:Golan 357PAN.jpg|x140px|Panoramic view of the Golan Heights, with the Hermon mountains on the left side, taken from Snir|alt=A field with a large hill in the background|align-cap=center}} {{wide image|File:Golan 007PAN.jpg|x140px|Panorama showing the upper Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, with the Hula Valley to the left|align-cap=center}}
== Territorial claims == <!--linked from Template:Syria topics--> {{main|Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights}}
Claims on the territory include the Franco-British boundary agreement of 1920, which placed portions of the northwestern Golan region, delineated by a rough triangle formed by the towns of Banias, Quneitra and the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, within the British Palestine Mandate in which the establishment of a Jewish national home had been promised.<ref name=EDM35>Edgar S. Marshall. ''Israel: current issues and historical background''. Nova Publishers, 2002. pg. 35. {{ISBN|978-1-59033-325-9}}.</ref><ref>[https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1921v01/d113 ''Franco-British Convention of December 23, 1920, Regarding the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine, and Mesopotamia''], United States Department of State. Accessed April 4, 2026.</ref> As part of the 1923 Paulet–Newcombe Agreement, this triangle in northwestern Golan was ceded to the French Mandate of Lebanon and Syria in exchange for land areas that had previously been part of the French Mandate, including the whole of the Sea of Galilee, which previously had its eastern boundary connected to the French Mandate and was placed under British control inside the Palestine Mandate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garfinkle |first1=Adam |year=1998 |title=History and Peace: Revisiting two Zionist myths |journal=Israel Affairs |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=135–146 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.1080/13537129808719501}}</ref><ref>Hof, Frederic C. [https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/97252/sr219.pdf#page=4 "Mapping Peace between Syria and Israel"], United States Institute of Peace, Special Report 219, March 2009. Accessed April 10, 2026. "The territorial aspects of the Syrian-Israeli dispute date to 1920–23, when Great Britain and France devised a boundary between Syria (then including “Greater Lebanon”) and Palestine, two entities that would fall under League of Nations mandates. Often referred to as the '1923 international boundary,' the line was drawn to keep the upper course of the Jordan River (between Lake Hula and the Sea of Galilee) and the Sea of Galilee itself entirely within Palestine and to give Palestine a few kilometers of frontage on the Yarmouk River (see map, page 5). Between Lake Hula and the Sea of Galilee, the boundary ran between fifty and four-hundred meters east of the Jordan River, just below the Golan Heights."</ref>
Syria argues that the region was placed in the Vilayet of Damascus as part of Syria under the Ottoman boundaries and that the 1920 agreement was only temporary. Syria further claims that the final border line drawn in 1923, which excluded the Golan triangle, had superseded the 1920 agreement,<ref name=EDM35/> although Syria has never recognised the 1923 border as legally binding.
Israel considers the Golan Heights vital for its national security, asserting that control over the region is necessary to defend against threats from Syria and Iranian proxy groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebrahim |first=Nadeen |date=28 July 2024 |title=What is the Golan Heights and who are the Druze? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/28/middleeast/druze-golan-heights-israel-occupied-attack-explainer-intl/index.html |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> It maintains that it may retain the area, as the text of Resolution 242 calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force".<ref name= YZB>Blum, Y.Z. (1971). "Secure Boundaries and Middle East Peace in the Light of International Law and Practice", pp. 24–46.</ref>
=== Borders, armistice line and ceasefire line === [[File:Nrthrdtrip 265.jpg|thumb|right|View of Mount Hermon from the road to Masaade]]
One of the aspects of the dispute involves the existence prior to 1967 of three different lines separating Syria from the area that before 1948 was referred to as Mandatory Palestine.
The 1923 boundary between British Mandatory Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria was drawn with an objective of providing the water supply needed for the British Mandate.<ref>[https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/246 Franco-British Agreement on Northern Border (Paulet-Newcombe Agreement, 1923)], Economic Cooperation Foundation. Accessed April 4, 2026. "The logic behind this division was to award the roads to Syria and the water resources to Palestine."</ref><ref name=Hof>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/67line.html |title=The Line of June 4, 1967 |work=jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2022}} Accordingly, it was demarcated so that all of the Sea of Galilee, including a {{convert|10|m|adj=on}} wide strip of beach along its northeastern shore, would stay inside Mandatory Palestine. From the Sea of Galilee north to Lake Hula the boundary was drawn between {{convert|50|and|400|m}} east of the upper Jordan River, keeping that stream entirely within Mandatory Palestine. The British also received a sliver of land along the Yarmouk River, out to the present-day Hamat Gader.<ref name=Garfinkle>{{cite journal |first=A. |last=Garfinkle |title=History and Peace: Revisiting two Zionist myths |journal=Israel Affairs |volume=5 |year=1998 |pages=126–148|doi=10.1080/13537129808719501 }}</ref>
During the Arab–Israeli War, Syria captured various areas of the formerly British controlled Mandatory Palestine, including the {{Convert|10|m|adj=on}} strip of beach, the east bank of the upper Jordan, as well as areas along the Yarmouk.<ref>Waage, Hilde Hendriksen; and Stenberg, Petter. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43698620 "Cementing a State of Belligerency: The 1949 Armistice Negotiations between Israel and Syria"], ''Middle East Journal'', Winter 2016, Vol. 70, No. 1, pp. 69-89. Accessed April 4, 2026. "After the Arab states' devastating defeat in the 1948 war with Israel, Syria refused to give in without a fight. Syria held on to several bridgeheads inside the former Palestine."</ref>
While negotiating the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Israel called for the removal of all Syrian forces from the territory of the former Palestine Mandate. Syria refused, insisting on an armistice line based not on the 1923 international border but on the military status quo. The result was a compromise. Under the terms of an armistice signed on 20 July 1949, Syrian forces were to withdraw east of the 1923 Anglo-French Palestine-Syria boundary. Israeli forces were to refrain from entering the evacuated areas, which would become a demilitarized zone, "from which the armed forces of both Parties shall be totally excluded, and in which no activities by military or paramilitary forces shall be permitted."<ref>[https://avalon.law.yale.edu/21st_century/arm04.asp Israeli-Syrian General Armistice Agreement, July 20, 1949], Yale Law School. Accessed April 4, 2026.</ref>
Accordingly, major parts of the armistice lines departed from the 1923 boundary. There were three distinct, non-contiguous enclaves—to the west of Banias, on the west bank of the Jordan River near Lake Hula, and the eastern-southeastern shores of the Sea of Galilee extending out to Hamat Gader, consisting of {{cvt|66.5|km2|mi2|1|abbr=out}} of land lying between the 1949 armistice line and the 1923 boundary, forming the demilitarized zone.<ref name=Hof/>{{better source needed|date=September 2022}}
Following the armistice, both Israel and Syria sought to take advantage of the territorial ambiguities left in place by the 1949 agreement. This resulted in an evolving tactical situation, one "snapshot" of which was the disposition of forces immediately prior to the Six-Day War, the "line of June 4, 1967".<ref name=Hof/>{{better source needed|date=September 2022}}
=== Shebaa Farms === A small portion of territory in the Golan Heights, on the Lebanon–Syria border, has been a particular flashpoint. The territory, known as the Shebaa Farms, measures only {{cvt|22|km2|sqmi}}. Since 2000, Lebanon has officially claimed it to be Lebanese territory from which Israel should withdraw, and Syria has concurred.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|p=72}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, raising regional tensions | newspaper = Al Jazeera | date = 8 October 2023 | url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/8/israel-hezbollah-exchange-fire-raising-regional-tensions}}</ref><ref>The Syrian official news agency SANA routinely calls the Shebaa Farms Lebanese. [https://www.sana.sy/en/?s=Shebaa].</ref>
The approximate boundary between Lebanon and Syria has its origins in an 1862 French map.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|p=26}}</ref><ref>:File:Carte du Liban d%27apres les reconnaissances de la Brigade Topographique du Corps Expeditionnaire de Syrie en 1860-1861.jpg</ref> During the early period of the French Mandate, both French and British maps were inconsistent regarding the boundary in the western Golan region, with some showing the Shebaa Farms in Lebanon and others, the majority, showing them in Syria.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|p=35}}</ref> However, by 1936 the disagreement was eliminated by high quality maps showing the Shebaa Farms in Syria, and these formed the basis of later official maps.<ref name=Kaufman36>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|p=36}}</ref> According to Kaufman, the choice between the two options was due to a preference for drawing boundaries along watersheds rather than along valleys.<ref name=Kaufman36/> However, no detailed delineation or demarcation was performed throughout the mandate period.
Meanwhile, problems were reported with the location of the boundary.<ref name=Kaufman37>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|pp=37–41}}</ref> Several official documents from the 1930s state that the boundary lies along the Wadi al-'Asal (to the south of the Shebaa Farms).<ref name=Kaufman37/> Local officials of the French administration reported that the de facto boundary did not correspond to the boundary shown on maps.<ref name=Kaufman37/> The High Commissioner requested a Syrian–Lebanese negotiation but apparently nothing happened.<ref name=Kaufman37/>
From the founding of the Syrian Republic in 1946 until the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Shebaa Farms were controlled by Syria and Lebanon did not make any known official complaint.<ref name=Kaufman1>{{cite journal |title=Understanding the Sheeba Farms dispute |url=http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=9 |first=Asher |last=Kaufman |journal=Palestine-Israel Journal |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2004 |access-date=22 July 2006}}</ref><ref name= LGL>{{Cite web |last= Liguori |first= Lucrezia Gwinnett |title= Border problems. Lebanon, UNIFIL and Italian participation |url=http://cadmus.eui.eu/dspace/bitstream/1814/11764/1/CARIM_SS_IV_Essay_2009_04.pdf |access-date=2 September 2010 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010025502/http://cadmus.eui.eu/dspace/bitstream/1814/11764/1/CARIM_SS_IV_Essay_2009_04.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Israel occupation cut off the access of many Lebanese residents from the farms they had worked.<ref name= LGL/> In the context of renewal of the UNIFIL mandate, the Lebanese government implicitly endorsed United Nations maps of the region in 1978 and many times later, even though the maps showed the Shebaa Farms in Syria.<ref name=Kaufman1/>
Lebanese newspapers, residents and politicians lobbied the Lebanese government in the early 1980s to take up the issue, but it was apparently not raised in the failed negotiations for an Israeli withdrawal after the 1982 Israeli invasion.<ref name=Kaufman171>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|pp=171–173}}</ref> A series of publications appeared, partly assisted by Hezbollah and Amal, and a committee which formed in the Lebanese town of Shebaa wrote to the UN in 1986 protesting Israeli occupation of their lands.<ref name=Kaufman171/> However, it was Hezbollah in 2000 which first adopted the Shebaa Farms as the basis for a public territorial claim against Israel.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013|pp=175–176}}</ref>
On 7 June 2000, the United Nations published the ''Blue Line'' as the line to which Israel should withdraw from Lebanon in accordance with Security Council Resolution 425. The UN chose to follow the maps at its disposal and did not accept the Lebanese complaint from several weeks earlier that the Shebaa Farms were in Lebanon.<ref>Timur Goksel, a spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stated: "The UN is saying that on all maps the UN has been able to find, the farms are seen on the Syrian side." {{cite news |title=In focus: Shebaa farms |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/763504.stm |work=BBC News |date=25 May 2000 |access-date=29 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = Selim Tadmoury, Ambassador of Lebanon to the UN | title = A/54/870–S/2000/443 Letter dated 15 May 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General | url = https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A/54/870&l=en | access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref> After the Israeli withdrawal, the United Nations affirmed on 18 June 2000 that Israel had withdrawn its forces from Lebanon.<ref name=SC2000press>{{cite web|date=18 June 2000|publisher=United Nations Security Council|title=Security council endorses secretary-general's conclusion on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as of June 16| url=https://press.un.org/en/2000/20000618.sc6878.doc.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040219130709/https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000618.sc6878.doc.html | archive-date=19 February 2004}}</ref> However, the press release noted that both Lebanon and Syria disagreed, considering the Shebaa Farms area to be Lebanese.<ref name=SC2000press/> In deference to the Lebanese position, the Blue Line is not marked on the ground in this location.<ref name=UNIFILkit/>
The attitude of the UN shifted during the following years. In 2006, the Lebanese government presented the UN with a seven-point plan that included a proposal to place the Shebaa Farms under UN administration until boundary demarcation and sovereignty were settled.<ref name=Kaufman212>{{harvnb|Kaufman|2013| p=212}}</ref> In August of that year, the Security Council passed Resolution 1701 which "took due note" of the Lebanese plan and called for "delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms area".<ref name=Kaufman212/><ref>{{cite web | author = United Nations Security Council | title = Resolution 1701 (2006), S/RES/1701 | url = https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/RES/1701(2006)&l=en}}</ref>
In 2007, a UN cartographer delineated the boundaries of the region: "starting from the turning point of the 1920 French line located just south of the village of El Majidiye; from there continuing south-east along the 1946 Moughr Shab'a-Shab'a boundary until reaching the thalweg of the Wadi al-Aasal; thence following the thalweg of the wadi north-east until reaching the crest of the mountain north of the former hamlet Mazraat Barakhta and reconnecting with the 1920 line."<ref>{{cite web | author = United Nations Security Council | date = 30 October 2007 | title = S/2007/641 : Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) | url = https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=S/2007/641&l=en | access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref> As of 2023, neither Syria nor Israel have responded to the delineation, nor have Lebanon and Syria made progress towards border demarcation.<ref name=S-2023-879>{{cite web | author = United Nations Security Council | title = S/2023/879 Implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) during the period from 21 June to 20 October 2023 : Report of the Secretary-General | url = https://documents.un.org/symbol-explorer?s=S/2023/879&i=S/2023/879_7878483 | date = 16 November 2023}}</ref>
The position of Israel, which occupied the Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed them in 1981, is that the Shebaa Farms belonged to Syria and there is no case for Lebanese sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web| author = Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs | title = The legal status of the Shebaa Farms | url = https://www.gov.il/en/pages/the-legal-status-of-the-shabaa-farms-8-apr-2002 | date = 4 August 2000 | access-date = 6 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=UNIFILkit>{{cite web | author = United Nations | title = UNIFIL Press Kit | date = 31 May 2023 | url = https://unifil.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unifilpresskit.pdf | access-date = 7 August 2023}}</ref>
=== Ghajar === The Alawite village of Ghajar is located west of Shebaa farms. Before the 1967 war, the village was located at the junction of Syria, Lebanon and Israel. During the war, Israel did not initially capture the village, since they considered it Lebanese, but Lebanon told a delegation from Ghajar that they would shoot or jail Ghajar residents who crossed the Hasbani River. Ghajar residents then requested to become part of Israel and accepted Israeli citizenship after the area was annexed in 1981.<ref name=Time2015>Lazaerva, Inna. [https://time.com/3815086/ghajar-golan-crossfire/ "Inside the Village Caught in the Crossfire Between Israel, Syria and Lebanon"], ''Time'', April 10, 2015. Accessed April 4, 2026. "In 1967, Israel conquered the Golan Heights from Syria and those Ghajar residents who remained later chose to accept Israeli citizenship when the territory was annexed in 1981. In 1982, when Israel occupied southern Lebanon, the village expanded into Lebanese territory. When Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, the residents in northern Ghajar suddenly found themselves living in Lebanon, whilst their relatives and neighbours who previously lived just across the street now lived in a separate country — and an enemy state.... The division of the village — one half in Israel, the other in Lebanon — lasted until 2006 when Israel invaded north Ghajar during the Second Lebanon War."</ref> Residents of Ghajar have been integrated in Israeli society and speak fluent Hebrew.<ref>{{Cite news |title=June 12, 2000 |url=https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/transition-syria-golan-heights-village-loyal/docview/2233377222/se-2?accountid=196403 |access-date=April 3, 2026 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name= Ghj>Ash, Uri. [https://www.haaretz.com/2002-06-04/ty-article/ghajar-says-dont-fence-me-in/0000017f-ec57-ddba-a37f-ee7f36430000 "Ghajar says `don't fence me in'"], ''Haaretz'', 4 June 2002. Accessed 17 March 2026. "Until 1967, Ghajar was a Syrian village on the Syrian-Lebanese border. In 1967, it was captured by Israel when the IDF took the Golan Heights. Apparently the northern part of the village was then already inside Lebanese territory, but it was only when Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000, that the UN drew the international border between Israel and Lebanon.... But unlike the Druze from the four villages on the Golan Heights that came under Israeli rule in 1967, the identification with Syria in Ghajar is not absolute. The residents agreed to accept Israeli citizenship in 1981.</ref> The village had been divided by an international boundary, though there was no physical border running through it. Instead, the village is surrounded by a fence. The northern part of the village had been on the Lebanese side after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000 following the end of the South Lebanon conflict.<ref name=Time2015/> Since July 2006, both halves of the village of 2,450 have been under Israeli control, with a majority of residents opposing a return to Lebanese control.<ref>Tale, Waleb. [https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1342655/about-ghajar-the-disputed-village-occupied-by-israel.html "About Ghajar, the disputed village occupied by Israel; The village, which is divided by the UN blue line, (the de-facto border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Syrian Golan Heights) was occupied by Israel in the 2006 July war."], ''L'Orient–Le Jour'', July 7, 2023. Accessed April 4, 2026. "The village, which is divided by the UN blue line, (the de-facto border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Syrian Golan Heights) was occupied by Israel in the 2006 July war.... Some 2,000 people live in Ghajar. Most of the villagers still consider themselves Syrian Alawites, the minority sect which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is part of. Many have taken Israeli citizenship during the long years of occupation and most residents refuse to be part of Lebanon."</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lazaerva |first=Inna |date=April 10, 2015 |title=Inside the Village Caught in the Crossfire Between Israel, Syria and Lebanon |url=https://time.com/3815086/ghajar-golan-crossfire/ |access-date=April 12, 2026 |work=Time}}</ref> There is an Israeli army checkpoint at the entrance to the village from the rest of the Golan Heights.<ref name= LGL/> Most residents hold dual Israeli citizenship and Syrian citizenship,<ref>[https://unifil.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/20170113presskit.pdf UNIFIL Press Kit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814061451/https://unifil.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/20170113presskit.pdf |date=14 August 2021 }} p.6</ref>{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} and in the northern part many hold a Lebanese passport.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shmuel |first=Shamai |last2=Ali |first2=Shemali |last3=Dennis |first3=Gorbatkin |last4=Nadim |first4=Chativ |last5=Halil |first5=Elachmad |last6=Zinaida |first6=Ilatov |date=2017-07-09 |title=Identity and Sense of Place of Ghajar Residents Living in Border Junction of Syria, Israel and Lebanon |url=https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/10014 |journal=Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences |language=en |volume=8 |issue=4 S1 |pages=61 |issn=2039-2117}}</ref>
=== International views === The international community largely considers the Golan to be Syrian territory held under Israeli occupation.<ref name= ILO/><ref name=InternationalCommunityOccupiedTerritory>Occupied territory: *"Israeli-occupied Golan Heights" (Central Intelligence Agency. [https://archive.org/details/ciaworldfactbook0000unit/page/339 <!-- pg=339 --> CIA World Factbook 2010], Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2009. pg. 339. {{ISBN|978-1-60239-727-9}}.) *"...the United States considers the Golan Heights to be occupied territory subject to negotiation and Israeli withdrawal..." ([https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/9570.pdf "CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Israeli–United States Relations"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030424042458/https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/9570.pdf |date=24 April 2003 }}, Congressional Research Service, 5 April 2002. pg. 5. Retrieved 1 August 2010.) *"Occupied Golan Heights" ([http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied Travel advice: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720052803/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/israel-occupied |date=20 July 2009 }}, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Retrieved 1 August 2010.) *"In the ICRC's view, the Golan is an occupied territory." ([http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/israel-golan-311207?OpenDocument&style=custo_print ICRC activities in the occupied Golan during 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215201012/https://www.icrc.org/en?OpenDocument=&style=custo_print |date=15 February 2021 }}, International Committee of the Red Cross, 24 April 2008.)</ref>
[[File:126862 trump heights in the northern golan heights PikiWiki Israel.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the Israeli settlement of Trump Heights, founded in 2019, and named after Israeli settlers in tribute to US President Donald Trump]]
On 25 March 2019, then-President of the United States Donald Trump proclaimed U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel, making it the first country to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trump |first=Donald J.|author-link=Donald Trump |title=Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel|date=25 March 2019 |language=en-US |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-recognizing-golan-heights-part-state-israel/ |access-date=25 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/us/politics/benjamin-netanyahu-donald-trump-meeting.html |title=Trump, With Netanyahu, Formally Recognizes Israel's Authority Over Golan Heights |last1=Landler |first1=Mark |date=25 March 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=25 March 2019 |last2=Halbfinger |first2=David M. |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Israeli officials lobbied the United States into recognizing "Israeli sovereignty" over the territory.<ref name=p589>{{cite web|last=Wilner|first=Michael|title=GOP lawmakers introduce bill recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan|website= The Jerusalem Post|date=28 February 2019|url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/gop-lawmakers-introduce-bill-recognizing-israeli-sovereignty-in-golan-heights-581929|access-date=1 August 2024}}</ref> The 28 member states of the European Union declared in turn that they do not recognize Israeli sovereignty, and several experts on international law reiterated that the principle remains that land gained by either defensive or offensive wars cannot be legally annexed under international law.<ref>Landau, Noa (31 March 2019). [https://www.haaretz.com/2019-03-31/ty-article/.premium/jurists-debunk-netanyahus-golan-claim-annexation-cant-be-excused-by-defensive-war/0000017f-e294-d568-ad7f-f3ff542e0000 "Legal Experts Debunk Netanyahu's Golan Heights Claim: Annexation Can't Be Excused by Defensive War"] , Haaretz</ref><ref>Laub, Zachary (28 March 2019). [https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/golan-heights-whats-stake-trumps-recognition "The Golan Heights: What's at Stake With Trump's Recognition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331131234/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/golan-heights-whats-stake-trumps-recognition |date=31 March 2019 }} Council of Foreign Relations.</ref><ref>Stone, Jon (29 March 2019). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/israel-golan-heights-eu-trump-netanyahu-syria-middle-east-a8843311.html "EU member states unanimously reject Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights, defying Trump and Netanyahu"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329131143/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/israel-golan-heights-eu-trump-netanyahu-syria-middle-east-a8843311.html |date=29 March 2019 }} The Independent.</ref> The European members of the UN Security Council issued a joint statement condemning the U.S. announcement and the UN Secretary-General issued a statement saying that the status of the Golan had not changed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fassihi |first=Farnaz |title=Security Council Denounces Trump's Golan Decision |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=28 March 2019 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/security-council-denounces-trumps-golan-decision-11553750154 |access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>
Under the subsequent administration of President Joe Biden, the U.S. State Department's annual report{{when|date=October 2025}} on human rights violations around the world again referred to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as being territories occupied by Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-return-to-pre-trump-norm-state-dept-report-refers-to-occupied-territories/ |title=In return to pre-Trump norm, State Dep't report refers to 'occupied' territories |first=Jacob |last=Magid |website=The Times of Israel |date=30 March 2021 }}</ref> However, in June 2021, the Biden administration affirmed that it would maintain the previous administration's policy of recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lazaroff |first1=Tova |title=US: No change to policy recognizing Israeli sovereignty on Golan |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/us-no-change-to-policy-recognizing-israeli-sovereignty-on-golan-672052 |access-date=28 June 2021 |publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=26 June 2021}}</ref>
== UNDOF supervision == thumb|Golan ceasefire line crossing, 2012 [[File:UNDOF Golan Heights vehicle.JPG|thumb|A UN Toyota Land Cruiser parked near Majdal Shams displaying UNDOF plates and a UN flag, January 2012]]
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established in 1974 to supervise the implementation of the Agreement on Disengagement and maintain the ceasefire with an area of separation known as the UNDOF Zone.<ref>[https://www.jmu.edu/cisr/research/gmar/search/undof.shtml UNDOF], Center for International Stabilization and Recovery. Accessed 17 March 2026, "From early March 1974, the situation in the Israel-Syria sector became increasingly unstable, and firing intensified. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was established on 31 May 1974 by Security Council resolution 350 (1974), following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan."</ref> Currently there are more than 1,000 UN peacekeepers there trying to sustain a peace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/undof/index.html |title=United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) |publisher=Un.org |access-date=26 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912173917/http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/undof/index.html |archive-date=12 September 2009}}</ref> Syria and Israel still contest the ownership of the Heights but have not used overt military force since 1974.
The great strategic value of the Heights, both militarily and as a source of water, means that a deal is uncertain. Members of the UN Disengagement force are usually the only individuals who cross the Israeli–Syrian de facto border (cease fire "Alpha Line"). Since 1967, Druze brides have been allowed to cross into Syria, although they do so in the knowledge that they may not be able to return.<ref>Mitnick, Joshua. [http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/10/one_way_ticket.php "One way ticket for Druze Syrian Brides"] {{Webarchive | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411071408/http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/10/one_way_ticket.php | date=April 11, 2009}}, Ya Libnan, October 11, 2007. Accessed March 31, 2026. "She is like dozens of Syrian Druze women for whom marriage has meant a one-way ticket across the 40-year-old Syrian-Israeli divide over the Golan Heights, seized by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict."</ref><ref name=JP2009/> Since 1988, Israel has allowed several hundred Druze pilgrims each year to cross into Syria to visit the shrine of Abel on Mount Qasioun overlooking Damascus, in visits coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross.<ref name=JP2009>Selig, Abe. [https://www.jpost.com/israel/druse-cross-into-syria-for-pilgrimage-155931 "Druse cross into Syria for pilgrimage"], ''The Jerusalem Post'', September 24, 2009. Accessed March 31, 2026. "In an emotional operation with delicate diplomatic underpinnings, over 550 Druse residents of the Golan Heights crossed the border into Syria on Thursday morning for a five-day trip that will include a visit to the tomb of the Prophet Habil, the Biblical Abel, southwest of Damascus. The crossing, which was coordinated among the IDF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Israeli and Syrian interior ministries, was the 14th crossing of its kind in as many years, and included a higher number of pilgrims than had taken part in previous visits.... In 2008 the ICRC facilitated the crossing of 552 students in nine separate operations throughout the year. For 21 years, the ICRC has also assisted with practical arrangements for weddings - including security clearances for wedding guests - between Druse residents of the Golan and their prospective partners from Syria."</ref>
Though the cease fire in the UNDOF zone has been largely uninterrupted since the seventies, in 2012 there were repeated violations from the Syrian side, including tanks<ref>[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jg656u-DXtb9CEPRuFxpsCC9gRHA?docId=cd06e1f9e2e446aba9a244da22e241d8] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108200738/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jg656u-DXtb9CEPRuFxpsCC9gRHA?docId=cd06e1f9e2e446aba9a244da22e241d8|date=8 November 2012}}</ref> and live gunfire,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2012/11/05/military-stray-syrian-bullet-hits-israeli-jeep/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260401122713/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2012/11/05/military-stray-syrian-bullet-hits-israeli-jeep/ |url-status=live |archive-date=1 April 2026 |title=Military: Stray Syrian bullet hits Israeli jeep |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=5 November 2012 |access-date=1 April 2026}}</ref> though these incidents are attributed to the ongoing Syrian Civil War rather than intentionally directed towards Israel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/Defense/Two-mortar-shells-from-Syria-land-in-Israeli-Golan-Heights-325948 |title=Three mortar shells from Syria land in Israeli Golan Heights |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> On 15 October 2018, the Quneitra border crossing between the Golan Heights and Syria reopened for UNDOF personnel after four years of closure.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/186387-181015-road-to-recovery-syria-opens-two-key-crossings-with-jordan-israel |title=Road to recovery: Syria opens two key crossings with Jordan, Israel |work=i24NEWS |access-date=15 October 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Syrian villages == {{Main|Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab–Israeli conflict}}
{{See also|1982 Golan Heights Druze general strike}}
[[File:BeerAjam V Golanhights.JPG|thumb|800px|center|{{center|Beer Ajam ({{lang|ar|بئرعجم}}), a Syrian Circassian village in the province of Quneitra, founded in 1872}}]] thumb|250px|Destroyed buildings in Quneitra
The population of the Golan Heights prior to the 1967 Six-Day War has been estimated between 130,000 and 145,000, including 17,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA.<ref name=HaaretzFogelman>Fogelman, Shay. [https://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-disinherited-1.304959 The disinherited] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919203211/http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-disinherited-1.304959 |date=19 September 2010 }}, ''Haaretz'', 30 July 2010. (90,000 according to Israeli sources and 115,000 according to Syrian sources, which included 17,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, cited in the [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CC2CFCFE1A52BDEC852568D20051B645 Report of the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) and Security Council resolution 237 (1967)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002101906/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CC2CFCFE1A52BDEC852568D20051B645 |date=2 October 2013 }}, pg. 14. 15 September 1967.)</ref> Between 80,000<ref name=MORRIS/> and 130,000<ref name=almarsad>[http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/almarsad.pdf The Arab Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights: NGO Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403062300/https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/almarsad.pdf |date=3 April 2019 }}, pg. 3. 25 January 2007. 90,000 according to Israeli sources and 115,000 according to Syrian sources, which included 17,000 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, cited in the [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CC2CFCFE1A52BDEC852568D20051B645 Report of the Secretary-General under General Assembly resolution 2252 (ES-V) and Security Council resolution 237 (1967] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002101906/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/CC2CFCFE1A52BDEC852568D20051B645 |date=2 October 2013 }}, pg. 14. 15 September 1967.)</ref> Syrians fled or were driven from the Heights during the Six-Day War and around 7,000 remained in the Israeli-held territory in six villages: Majdal Shams, Mas'ade, Buq'ata, Ein Qiniyye, Ghajar and Shayta.<ref name=almarsad/>
thumb|Christian church in Ein Qiniyye
Before the 1967 war, Christians comprised 12% of the total population of the Golan Heights. The vast majority of Christians migrated with the rest of the population after Israel's occupation of the Golan, leaving only a few small Christian families in Majdal Shams and Ein Qiniyye.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1122281/world|title=Last Christians of Israeli-controlled Golan Heights endure|date=30 June 2017|publisher=Arab News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20170630-last-christians-israeli-controlled-golan-heights-endure|title=Last Christians of Israeli-controlled Golan Heights endure|date=30 June 2017|publisher=France24}}</ref>
Israel forcibly expelled Syrians from the Golan Heights.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sulimani|Kletter|2022|pp=55–56}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Fogelman | first=Shay | title=The Disinherited | website=Haaretz.com | date=30 July 2010 | url=https://www.haaretz.com/2010-07-30/ty-article/the-disinherited/0000017f-db11-db22-a17f-ffb1eac70000 | access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref> There were also instances of Israeli soldiers killing Syrian residents including blowing up their home with people inside.<ref>{{harvnb|Sulimani|Kletter|2022|pp=55–56}}: "Avishay Katz, the commander of reserve Engineer Regiment 602,testified: At this stage [during the war] the instruction that we have received was to go and check that no 'guys' are left hiding. We did it in the first villages [conquered] on top of the [Golan] Heights . . . . There were a few cases that I don't want to talk about.' What does it mean? Katz: 'They killed people that should not have been killed. Syrian citizens' . . . There were a few guys of mine who killed some Arab citizens' . . . Why did they kill them? 'It was out of stupidity, something that should not have been done, and they were kicked out of the regiment. All the rest of the Golan dwellers were deported. Not one remained'. How did it happen? 'They destroyed a house on top of its dwellers . . . It was a war crime. . . . It drove me out of my mind'"</ref>
Israel demolished over one hundred Syrian villages and farms in the Golan Heights.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Politicide: Ariel Sharon's war against the Palestinians |page=28 |isbn=978-1-84467-532-6 |last1=Kimmerling |first1=Baruch |year=2006|publisher=Verso Books }}</ref><ref name=shai>"The Fate of Abandoned Arab Villages, 1965–1969" by Aron Shai (History & Memory – Volume 18, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2006, pp. 86–106) "As the pace of the surveys increased in the West Bank, widespread operations also began on the Golan Heights, which had been captured from Syria during the war (figure 7). Dan Urman, whose official title was Head of Surveying and Demolition Supervision for the Golan Heights, was in charge of this task. Urman submitted a list of 127 villages for demolition to his bosses. ... The demolitions were executed by contractors hired for the job. Financial arrangements and coordination with the ILA and the army were recorded in detail. Davidson commissioned surveys and demolition supervision from the IASS [Israel Archaeological Survey Society]. Thus, for example, in a letter dated 15 May 1968, he wrote to Ze'ev Yavin: 'Further to our meeting, this is to inform you that within a few days we will start demolishing about 90 abandoned villages on the Golan Heights (see attached list)."</ref> After the demolitions, the lands were given to Israeli settlers.<ref>{{citation |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/138/1/18CMEIS.pdf |title=The Golan Heights under Israeli Occupation 1967–1981 |date=January 1983 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718170842/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/138/1/18CMEIS.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2011 |page=5 |quote=The remainder of 131 agricultural villages and 61 individual farms were wiped off the face of the earth by the Israeli occupation authorities immediately following the Israeli victory in the 1967 war. They were razed to the ground and their lands handed over to exclusive Israeli-Jewish settlement. |last1=Davis |first1=U. }}</ref>
Quneitra was the largest town in the Golan Heights until 1967, with a population of 27,000. It was occupied by Israel on the last day of the Six-Day War and handed back to Syrian civil control per the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. But the Israelis had destroyed Quneitra with dynamite and bulldozers before they withdrew from the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,USCRI,,SYR,3ae6a8cb3c,0.html |title=Refworld – U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 – Syria |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |work=Refworld |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018052053/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher%2CUSCRI%2C%2CSYR%2C3ae6a8cb3c%2C0.html |archive-date=18 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5B1BC7E46C040DF7852560DE0054E654 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103082535/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5B1BC7E46C040DF7852560DE0054E654 |url-status=dead |title=A/RES/3240(XXIX)(A-C) of 29 November 1974 |archive-date=3 January 2011 |website=unispal.un.org}}</ref>
East of the 1973 ceasefire line, in the Syrian controlled part of the Golan Heights, an area of {{cvt|600|km²|0|abbr=out}}, are more than 40 Syrian towns and villages, including Quneitra, Khan Arnabah, al-Hamidiyah, al-Rafid, al-Samdaniyah, al-Mudariyah, Beer Ajam, Bariqa, Ghadir al-Bustan, Hader, Juba, Kodana, Ufaniyah, Ruwayhinah, Nabe' al-Sakhar, Trinjah, Umm al-A'zam, and Umm Batna. The population of the Quneitra Governorate numbers 79,000.<ref name=SanaQuneitraGovPop/>
Once annexing the Golan Heights in 1981, the Israeli government offered all non-Israelis living in the Golan citizenship, but until the early 21st century fewer than 10% of the Druze were Israeli citizens; the remainder held Syrian citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Golan Heights Land, Lifestyle Lure Settlers |author=Scott Wilson |date=30 October 2006 |access-date=5 June 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900926.html |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> The Golan Alawites in the village of Ghajar accepted Israeli citizenship in 1981.<ref name= Ghj/> In 1982, the Druze community of the Golan Heights held a five-month general strike protesting the Israeli annexation.
[[File:Majdal Shams 04.jpg|thumb|The Druze town of Majdal Shams]]The Druze living in the Golan Heights are permanent residents of Israel. They hold laissez-passer documents issued by the Israeli government, and enjoy the country's social-welfare benefits.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0921/Assad-harvests-support-from-Druze-in-Israel-with-apples |title=Assad harvests support from Druze in Israel – with apples |author=Joshua Mitnick |date=21 September 2013 |publisher=Christian Science Monitor}}</ref> The pro-Israeli Druze were historically ostracized by the pro-Syrian Druze.<ref name = "YNet">{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3315769,00.html |title=Nobody's citizens |work=ynet |date=16 October 2006 |last1=Avni |first1=Idan}}</ref> Reluctance to accept citizenship also reflects fear of ill treatment or displacement by Syrian authorities should the Golan Heights be returned to Syria.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtUnd.jhtml?itemNo=837064&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001043913/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtUnd.jhtml?itemNo=837064&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 October 2007 |title=Israel News – Haaretz Israeli News source |work=haaretz.com}}</ref> In the 21st century, the number of Druze accepting Israeli citizenship steadily increased; as of 8 March 2026, 10,323 (39.6%) of the 26,066 residents of the four Druze villages of the Israeli-administered Golan Heights were Israeli citizens.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Tal |date=2026-03-15 |title=After years of hesitation, more Druze of the Golan Heights seek Israeli citizenship |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-years-of-hesitation-more-druze-of-the-golan-heights-seek-israeli-citizenship/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref>
According to ''The Independent'', most Druze in the Golan Heights live relatively comfortable lives in a freer society under Israeli rule than they would have in Syria under Assad's government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2208266.ece |title=After 40 years, could the ice be melting on the Golan Heights? |work=The Independent |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404123556/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2208266.ece |archive-date=4 April 2007}}</ref> According to Egypt's ''Daily Star'', their standard of living vastly surpasses that of their counterparts on the Syrian side of the border. Most of them identify themselves as Syrian,<ref>[http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5412 The Golan's Druze wonder what is best ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021070509/http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5412 |date=21 October 2007 }}</ref> but feel alienated from the "autocratic" government in Damascus and therefore fear of a return to Syrian rule. According to the Associated Press, "many young Druse have been quietly relieved at the failure of previous Syrian–Israeli peace talks to go forward."<ref name="WPost">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300475_2.html Golan's Druse Wary of Israel and Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011163441/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300475_2.html |date=11 October 2017 }} 3 June 2007</ref>
On the other hand, expressing pro-Syrian viewpoint, ''The Economist'' represents the Golan Druzes' view that by doing so they may be potentially rewarded by Syria, while simultaneously risking nothing in Israel's freewheeling society. ''The Economist'' likewise reported that "Some optimists see the future Golan as a sort of Hong Kong, continuing to enjoy the perks of Israel's dynamic economy and open society, while coming back under the sovereignty of a stricter, less developed Syria." The Druze are also reportedly well-educated and relatively prosperous, and have made use of Israel's universities.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13145039 A would-be happy link with Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308155124/http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13145039 |date=8 March 2009 }} ''The Economist'' 19 February 2009</ref>
Since 1988, Druze clerics have been permitted to make annual religious pilgrimages to Syria. Since 2005, Israel has allowed Druze farmers to export some 11,000 tons of apples to the rest of Syria each year, constituting the first commercial relations between Syria and Israel.<ref name= WPost/>
In the first years after the onset of the Syrian civil war, the number of applications for Israeli citizenship grew, although Syrian loyalty remained strong and those who applied for citizenship were often ostracized by members of the older generation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4418234,00.html |title=Young Druze seek Israeli citizenship as Syrian crisis worsens |work=ynet |date=15 August 2013 |last1=Pennello |first1=Aine}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Zion |first1=Ilan Ben |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/with-syria-ablaze-dozens-of-golan-heights-druze-seek-israeli-citizenship |title=With Syria ablaze, dozens of Golan Heights Druze seek Israeli citizenship |work=The Times of Israel |date=5 October 2012 }}</ref> In 2012, there were 20,000 Druze with Syrian citizenship living in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/world/middleeast/in-the-golan-heights-syrias-war-echoes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Echoes of Syria's War in the Golan Heights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202063857/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/world/middleeast/in-the-golan-heights-syrias-war-echoes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |date=2 February 2017 }}, New York Times</ref> In recent years, the number of applications for citizenship has increased, 239 in 2021 and 206 in the first half of 2022. A total of 419 citizenship applications were approved in 2022. In 2023, a further 389 citizenship applications were granted, followed by 318 in the first 11 months of 2024. By the end of 2024, official Israeli figures suggest that of approximately 29,000 Druze living in the Golan Heights, about 6,000 (or 20.45 percent) were Israeli citizens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taboo no more: One in five Golan Druze now holds Israeli citizenship {{!}} The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/taboo-no-more-one-in-five-golan-druze-now-holds-israeli-citizenship/amp/ |access-date=6 January 2025 |website=www.timesofisrael.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-ties-to-syria-fade-golan-druze-increasingly-turning-to-israel-for-citizenship/ |title=As ties to Syria fade, Golan Druze increasingly turning to Israel for citizenship |work=The Times of Israel |date=22 September 2022|last1=Amun |first1=Fadi}}</ref> In 2025 and early 2026, applications for Israeli citizenship surged sharply among Druze residents of the Golan Heights. In March 2026, ''Le Monde'' reported that, according to an anonymous Druze community observer based in Majdal Shams, before 2023 only about one-third of the Golan Druze held Israeli citizenship, but that the share had since risen to more than half.<ref>{{cite news |title=A la frontière nord d'Israël, la lassitude des guerres sans fin |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2026/03/15/a-la-frontiere-nord-d-israel-la-lassitude-des-guerres-sans-fin_6671254_3210.html |work=Le Monde |date=15 March 2026 |access-date=21 March 2026 |language=fr}}</ref> In January 2025, the IDF recorded the first large-scale enlistment of Golan Druze, with about 120 adults joining, marking a notable increase in recruitment.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2025 |title=לראשונה אי פעם: עשרות דרוזים מהגולן התגייסו לצה"ל |trans-title=For the first time ever, dozens of Druze from the Golan enlisted in the IDF |url=https://www.makorrishon.co.il/news/809818/ |access-date=31 October 2025 |website=Makor Rishon |language=he-IL}}</ref>
<gallery> Demographic map of the Golan Heights - Before 1967 - Legend.png|A demographic map of Quneitra Governorate (Golan Heights) before the 1967 six day war Demographic map of the Golan Heights - Legend.png|A demographic map of Quneitra Governorate (Golan Heights) today. Excludes any permanent depopulation or repopulation that might have happened during the Syrian civil war Demographic map of the Golan Heights and Syrian localities depopulated during and after the 1967 War - Legend.png|A demographic map of Quneitra Governorate (Golan Heights) overlaid with the location of the depopulated Syrian localities </gallery>
== Israeli settlements == {{see also|List of Israeli settlements|Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights}} [[File:Golan 92.jpg|thumb|Map of the Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, 1992]] Israeli settlement activity began in the 1970s. The area was governed by military administration until 1981, when Israel passed the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory.<ref name= MFALaw/> This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in UN Resolution 497,<ref name= condemn/> although Israel states it has a right to retain the area, citing the text of UN Resolution 242, adopted after the Six-Day War, which calls for "safe and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force".<ref name= YZB/> The continued Israeli control of the Golan Heights remains controversial and is still regarded as an occupation by most countries other than Israel and the United States. Israeli settlements and human rights policy in the occupied territory have drawn criticism from the UN.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=o2Va21wfwvIC&pg=PA524]"Yearbook of the United Nations 2005, Volume 59" pg.524</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/68ecea2cd994bc9285256c6100569819?OpenDocument |title=A/57/207 of 16 September 2002 |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622045045/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/68ecea2cd994bc9285256c6100569819?OpenDocument |archive-date=22 June 2011}} "Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories" September 2002</ref> [[File:Ma'aleGamla063a.jpg|thumb|250px|The Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Gamla]] thumb|250px|Israeli farms in the Golan HeightsThe territory is administered by the Golan Regional Council, based in Katzrin, which has a population of 7,600. There are another 19 moshavim and 10 kibbutzim. In 1989, the Israeli settler population was 10,000, <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Vva0n1w5mAwC&pg=PA34 Report of the Director-General, Volume 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024646/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vva0n1w5mAwC&pg=PA34 |date=14 December 2022 }}, International Labour Conference, 1991.pg. 34. {{ISBN|978-92-2-107533-2}}.</ref> doubling itself by 2010<ref name=BBCGH>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14724842 Regions and territories: The Golan Heights] ''BBC''</ref> in a total of 32 settlements.<ref name=OUDAT>Oudat, Basel.[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/901/re3.htm Shouting in the hills] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809175557/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/901/re3.htm |date=9 August 2009 }}, ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 12–18 June 2008. Issue No. 901.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Statistical Abstract of Israel, no. 60 |year=2009 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |chapter=Population by District, Sub-District and Religion |chapter-url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton.html?num_tab=st02_06x&CYear=2009}}</ref> By 2019, the population reached 22,000, <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_17&CYear=2017 |title=Localities and Population, by Population Group, District, Sub-District and Natural Region |date=6 September 2017 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref> and was estimated to be 25,000 in 2021, with plans by the Government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to double that population over a five-year period.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20211226-israel-approves-plan-to-double-settler-population-in-golan-heights |title=Israel approves plan to double settler population in Golan Heights|date=26 December 2021 |publisher=France 24 }}</ref>
On 23 April 2019, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would bring a resolution for government approval to name a new community in the Golan Heights after U.S. President Donald Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/trump-town-netanyahu-wants-to-repay-trumps-golan-move-with-a-community-named-in-his-honor/2019/04/23/81a57efe-65e2-11e9-a698-2a8f808c9cfb_story.html?noredirect=on |title=Trump Town: Netanyahu wants to repay Trump's Golan move with a community named in his honor |last=Morris |first=Loveday |date=23 April 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 April 2019}}</ref> The planned settlement was unveiled as Trump Heights on 16 June 2019.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48656431 |title=Israel unveils 'Trump Heights' in Golan |work=BBC News |date=16 June 2019 |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/welcome-to-trump-heights-the-israeli-town-that-doesn-t-exist-1.7374026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616212244/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/welcome-to-trump-heights-the-israeli-town-that-doesn-t-exist-1.7374026 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2019 |title=Welcome to Trump Heights, the Israeli Town That Doesn't Exist |date=17 June 2019 |access-date=17 June 2019 |publisher=Haaretz}}</ref> Further plans for settlement expansion on the Golan were part of the agenda of Benjamin Netanyahu's incoming coalition in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/israel-new-netanyahu-government-vows-to-expand-settlements/a-64228466 |title=Israel: New Netanyahu government vows to expand settlements|date=28 December 2022 |publisher=DW }}</ref>
In December 2024, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced an updated plan to further expand settlements on the Golan Heights.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/15/israel-syria-war-news-hamas-gaza-palestine/ |title=Israel approves plan to expand settlements on occupied Golan Heights |date=15 December 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post }}</ref> As of the end of 2024, the Israeli settler population was estimated to be about 31,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-is-significance-golan-heights-2024-12-10/ |title=What is the Golan Heights and what does it mean to Israel and Syria? |date=10 December 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024 |publisher=Reuters }}</ref>
==Landmarks== The Golan Heights features numerous archeological sites, mountains, streams and waterfalls. Throughout the region, 25 ancient synagogues have been found, dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/magazine/features/the-synagogue-of-umm-el-kanatir |title=The synagogue of Umm el-Kanatir |website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|date=19 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Ancient world |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChMiAQAAIAAJ |access-date=7 March 2011 |year=2002 |publisher=Ares Publishers |page=54}}</ref>
*Banias ({{langx|ar|بانياس الحولة}}; {{langx|he|בניאס}}) is an ancient site that developed around a spring once associated with the Greek god Pan. Near the archaeological site is the Banias Waterfall, one of the most powerful waterfalls in the region, plunging about 10 meters into a pool surrounded by lush vegetation. Part of the stream is accessible via a 100-meter-long suspended walkway.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hermon Stream (Banias) Nature Reserve |url=https://en.parks.org.il//reserve-park/hermon-stream-banias-nature-reserve/ |website=Israel Nature and Parks Authority}}</ref> *Deir Qeruh ({{langx|ar|دير قروح}}; {{langx|he|דיר קרוח}}) is a ruined Byzantine-period and Syrian village. Founded in the 4th century CE, it has a monastery and church of St George from the 6th century. The church has a square apse – a feature known from ancient Syria and Jordan but not present in churches west of the Jordan River.<ref name= JMOC/> *Kursi ({{langx|ar|الكرسي}}; {{Langx|he|כורסי}}) is an archaeological site and national park on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at the foothills of the Golan, containing the ruins of a Byzantine Christian monastery and is traditionally identified as the location of Jesus' Miracle of the Swine (Gergesa).<ref>[https://en.parks.org.il/reserve-park/kursi-national-park/ Kursi National Park], Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Accessed 17 March 2026. "Situated along the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, Kursi (Gerassa) National Park is a historical treasure trove. Renowned for its impressive remains of a monastery and church from the Byzantine period, the park holds special significance in Christian tradition as the site of the Miracle of the Swine mentioned in the New Testament."</ref> *Katzrin ({{langx|ar|قصرين}}; {{langx|he|קצרין}}) is the administrative and commercial center of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Katzrin Ancient Village is an archaeological site on the outskirts of Katzrin where the remains of a Talmud-era village and synagogue have been reconstructed.<ref>{{cite book |last= Killebrew |first= Ann E. |chapter= Reflections on a Reconstruction: Ethical, Political, Educational, and Touristic Implications of the Reconstructed Byzantine Village, Qasrin (Ch. 7) |title= The Reconstructed Past: Reconstructions in the Public Interpretation of Archaeology and History |year= 2004 |publisher= Altamira Press (Rowman) |pages= 127-146 |editor= John H. Jameson Jr. |via= academia.edu |isbn= 0759103763 |url= https://www.academia.edu/resource/work/8302155 |access-date= 15 December 2025}}</ref> The site has been described by an archeologist as being developed: "with a clear agenda and nationalistic narrative."<ref>{{Harvnb|Boytner|Dodd|Parker|2010|p=130}}</ref> It has also been criticized for distorting historical items and showing a selective part of history, focusing on the Jewish period leaving out the Mamluk and Syrian periods.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sulimani|Kletter|2022|pp=63–64}}: "Readers will not learn that there was also a Mamluk village and a mosque, and will not be able to see their remains. 'Traditional' items taken from the deserted villages (plough yoke, winnowing fork, etc.) seem to demonstrate the ancient Jewish life (Killebrew and Fine 1991: 53); but the visitors are not told about their origins. Years later, Killebrew criticised the politics that shaped the exhibition of Jewish Qatzrin, while erasing Mamluk Kasrein (Killebrew 2010: 130–131; 2019). Establishing museums is a common colonial practice for expropriating the past. The past is researched, published and exhibited, but in selective ways that erase the cultures of the 'natives' (Dietler 2010:41; Kosasa 2011; Perugini 2017)."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Boytner|Dodd|Parker|2010|p=131}}: "In retrospect, I have mixed feelings regarding my role in the Qasrin project. My most serious misgiving is that later Islamic periods-the Mamluk and modern Syrian periods-are not presented to the public. For all intents and purposes these periods have been erased from the contemporary landscape. Although the Jewish heritage of Qasrin is certainly one of many legitimate narratives of the past, public presentation of the site intentionally disregards these two other but no less important periods of occupation."</ref> Golan Archaeological Museum hosts archaeological finds uncovered in the Golan Heights from prehistoric times. A special focus concerns Gamla and excavations of synagogues and Byzantine churches.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.museum.golan.org.il/emeyda.htm |title=Golan Archaeological Museum |access-date=29 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528084046/http://www.museum.golan.org.il/emeyda.htm |archive-date=28 May 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> thumb|250px|The Sea of Galilee as seen from the Golan *Gamla nature reserve ({{langx|he|שמורת טבע גמלא}}) is an open park with the archaeological remains of the ancient Jewish city of Gamla ({{langx|he|גמלא}}, {{langx|ar|جمالا}}) — including a tower, wall and synagogue. It is also the site of a large waterfall, an ancient Byzantine church, and a panoramic spot to observe the nearly 100 vultures that dwell in the cliffs. Israeli scientists study the vultures and tourists can watch them fly and nest.<ref>[http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?module_id=&sec_id=17&subj_id=296&id=508 Antiquities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522014132/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?module_id=&sec_id=17&subj_id=296&id=508 |date=22 May 2011 }}.</ref> *A ski resort on the slopes of Mount Hermon ({{langx|ar|جبل الشيخ}}; {{lang|he|הר חרמון}}) features a wide range of ski trails and activities. The first lift was installed in 1971 and the resort first opened to skiers in December 1971.<ref>Paz, Shelly. [https://www.jpost.com/israel/greens-demand-public-access-to-mt-hermon/article-107642 "Greens demand public access to Mt. Hermon"], ''The Jerusalem Post'', 14 July 2008. Accessed 17 March 2026. "The moshav, which has been responsible for the site's operation since 1971 (when together with the Jewish Agency and the Moshavim Movement, it established the first cable-car to take visitors to the top of the mountain), has required payment from visitors to the site ever since."</ref> Since 1972, the resort has been operated and held by the residents of the nearby Moshav of Neve Ativ.<ref>Safier, Dovi; and Geberer, Yehuda. [https://mishpacha.com/skiing-on-sacred-snow/ "Skiing on Sacred Snow"], ''Mishpacha'', 7 January 2025. Accessed 17 March 2026. "In 1972, the Israeli government transferred control of the skiing operation to the families of the newly established Neve Ativ alpine moshav on the slopes of Mount Hermon. The Neve Ativ residents continue to operate the site today."</ref> The Lake Ram crater lake is nearby.
[[File:Susita - 015.jpg|thumb|Hippos odeon]]
*Hippos ({{langx|ar|قلعة الحصن}}; {{langx|he|סוסיתא}}) is an ancient Greco-Roman city, known in Arabic as {{lang|ar-Latn|Qal'at al-Hisn}} and in Aramaic as {{lang|arc-Latn|Susita}}. The archaeological site includes excavations of the city's forum, the small imperial cult temple, a large Hellenistic temple compound, the Roman city gates, and two Byzantine churches. *The Nimrod Castle ({{langx|ar|لعة الصبيبة}}; {{langx|he|מבצר נמרוד}}) was built in the 13th century to defend against the Crusaders, served the Ayyubids and Mamluks, and was captured only once, in 1260, by the Mongols. It is now located inside a nature reserve.<ref>Klawans, Jonathan. [https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/nimrod/ "Site-Seeing: Nimrod; A Golan fortress fit for a giant"], Biblical Archaeology Society, November 14, 2018. Accessed March 31, 2026. "Built early in the 13th century by Saladin’s Syrian-based successors (the Ayyubids), the original purpose of the structure was to keep the Crusaders at bay. But along came the Mongols, who ravaged the fortress shortly before they themselves were decidedly defeated by the Egyptian-based Mamluks in the Battle of Ein Jalut (1260)."</ref>
thumb|Rujm el-Hiri
*Rujm el-Hiri ({{langx|ar|رجم الهري}}; {{langx|he|גלגל רפאים}}) is a large circular stone monument. Excavations since 1968 have not uncovered material remains common to archaeological sites in the region. Archaeologists believe the site may have been a ritual center linked to a cult of the dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/morbid-theory-in-mystery-of-israel-s-answer-to-stone-henge-1.393568 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104035806/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/morbid-theory-in-mystery-of-israel-s-answer-to-stone-henge-1.393568 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2011 |title=Morbid theory in mystery of Israel's answer to Stone Henge |date=3 November 2011 |work=Haaretz.com}}</ref> A 3D model of the site exists in the Museum of Golan Antiquities in Katzrin. *Senaim ({{langx|ar|جبل الحلاوة}}; {{langx|he|הר סנאים}}) is an archaeological site in northern Golan Heights that includes both Roman and Ancient Greek temples. Byzantine and Mamluk coins have also been found at this site. *Tell Hadar (<!-- Arabic name? -->{{langx|he|תל הדר}}) is an Aramean archaeological site. *Umm el-Qanatir ({{langx|ar|ام القناطر}}; {{langx|he|עין קשתות}}, {{lang|he-Latn|Ein Keshatot}}) is another impressive set of standing ruins of a village of the Byzantine era. The site includes a very large synagogue and two arches next to a natural spring.<ref>[http://geophysics.tau.ac.il/personal/neta/kanatir/kanatir.htm Kanatir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060518030639/http://geophysics.tau.ac.il/personal/neta/kanatir/kanatir.htm |date=18 May 2006 }}, TAU.</ref>
== Economy ==
=== Viticulture === [[File:MaaleGamla.jpg|thumb|The vineyard behind the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Gamla.]] On a visit to Israel and the Golan Heights in 1972, Cornelius Ough, a professor of viticulture and oenology at the University of California, Davis, pronounced conditions in the Golan very suitable for the cultivation of wine grapes.<ref name=upstart>{{cite news |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/3896/ |title=Upstart Wineries Drench Previously Arid Country |first=Noga |last=Tarnopolsky |date=15 September 2006}}</ref> A consortium of four kibbutzim and four moshavim took up the challenge, clearing 250 burnt-out tanks in the Golan's Valley of Tears to plant vineyards for what would eventually become the Golan Heights Winery.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.welnerwines.com/Articles/about-us/2nytimes.pdf |title=Battlefield becomes Israeli vineyard |access-date=4 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426020209/http://www.welnerwines.com/Articles/about-us/2nytimes.pdf |archive-date=26 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The first vines were planted in 1976, and the first wine was released by the winery in 1983.<ref name=upstart/> {{as of|2012}}, The Heights are home to about a dozen wineries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israeli-wine.org/map/ |title=Wine map |publisher=mykerem |access-date=24 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629204607/http://www.israeli-wine.org/map/ |archive-date=29 June 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Oil and gas exploration === In the early 1990s, the Israel National Oil Company (INOC) was granted shaft-sinking permits in the Golan Heights. It estimated a recovery potential of two million barrels of oil, equivalent at the time to $24 million. During the Yitzhak Rabin administration (1992–1995), the permits were suspended as efforts were undertaken to restart peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. In 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu granted preliminary approval to INOC to proceed with oil exploration drilling in the Golan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hayoun |first=David |title=INOC Will Seek Two Year Extension of Golan Heights Drilling Licence |url=http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/INOC%20Will%20Seek%20Two%20Year%20Extension%20of%20Golan%20Heights_h_hd_2L3amDp1SCpOnD3CsBcXqRMm0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714113903/http://archive.globes.co.il/searchgl/INOC%20Will%20Seek%20Two%20Year%20Extension%20of%20Golan%20Heights_h_hd_2L3amDp1SCpOnD3CsBcXqRMm0.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=Globes |date=15 April 1997 |quote=The Israel National Oil Company (INOC), intends shortly to approach the Commissioner for Oil Prospecting at the Ministry of National Infrastructures with a demand for a two-year extension of the licence awarded the company in the past for shaft-sinking on the Golan Heights.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Netanyahu Approves Oil Drilling In Golan Heights |url=https://apnews.com/6ca8bcf86b3e4902870f5663644aa3ea |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=Associated Press |date=25 October 1996 |location=Jerusalem |quote=The National Oil Company expects the Golan site to yield some 2 million barrels of oil and revenue of about $24 million, Haaretz said.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |script-title=he:ההחלטה החשאית של השר לנדאו: ישראל תחפש נפט ברמת הגולן |url=http://www.themarker.com/dynamo/1.1706455 |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=TheMarker |date=13 May 2012 |language=he |trans-title=The covert decision of Minister Landau: Israel will search for oil in the Golan Heights |quote=על פי הדיווח, בראשית שנות ה-90, בימי ממשלתו של יצחק רבין ז"ל, הוחלט להקפיא את את מתן הרישיונות על רקע הנסיונות לנהל משא ומתן לשלום בין ישראל לסוריה. |last1=Online |first1=Themarker }}</ref>
INOC began undergoing a process of privatization in 1997, overseen by then-Director of the Government Companies Authority (GCA), Tzipi Livni. During that time, it was decided that INOC's drilling permits would be returned to the state.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hayoun |first=David |script-title=he:מחפשים נפט, ושלום |url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=132167 |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=Globes |date=3 July 1997 |language=he |trans-title=Searching for Oil, and Peace |quote=תהליך הפרטתה של חנ"ל (חברת הנפט הלאומית) החל ברגל ימין: מנהלת רשות החברות הממשלתיות, ציפי ליבני, היתה מאושרת לפני מספר חודשים לשמוע, כי שבע קבוצות ניגשו למיכרז הראשוני לרכישת החברה. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130902/http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=132167 |archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hayoun |first=David |script-title=he:לבני: הוצאת זיכיון הקידוח בגולן מחנ"ל נועדה למנוע חשיפת המדינה לתביעות |url=http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=129317 |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=Globes |date=3 July 1997 |language=he |trans-title=Livni: Taking the Golan drilling permit from INOC meant to prevent exposure of state to legal action |quote=נודע, כי מנהלת רשות החברות, ציפי לבני, הודיעה על החלטה לשלול את הזיכיון לקידוחים ברמת הגולן לשלוש הקבוצות המתמודדות על רכישת חנ"ל. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144927/http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=129317 |archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> In 2012, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau approved exploratory drilling for oil and natural gas in the Golan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ben Zion |first=Ilan |title=Government secretly approves Golan Heights drilling |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/government-secretly-approves-golan-heights-drilling/ |access-date=14 May 2012 |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=13 May 2012}}</ref> The following year, the Petroleum Council of Israel's Ministry of Energy and Water Resources secretly awarded a drilling license covering half the area of the Golan Heights to a local subsidiary of New Jersey–based Genie Energy Ltd. headed by Effi Eitam.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000824062&fid=1725 |last=Barkat |first=Amiram |title=Israel awards first Golan oil drilling license |access-date=22 February 2013 |newspaper=Globes |date=20 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=N.J. firm wins original rights to drill in Golan Heights |url=https://www.jta.org/2013/02/21/united-states/n-j-firm-wins-original-rights-to-drill-in-golan-heights |access-date=22 February 2013 |newspaper=JTA |date=21 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919135446/http://www.jta.org/2013/02/21/news-opinion/united-states/n-j-firm-wins-original-rights-to-drill-in-golan-heights |archive-date=19 September 2014}}</ref>
Human rights groups have said that the drilling violates international law, as the Golan Heights are an occupied territory.<ref>{{cite news |last=Khoury |first=Jack |date=25 February 2016 |title=Human Rights Groups: Golan Oil Drilling Contravenes International Law |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2016-02-25/ty-article/.premium/ngos-golan-oil-drilling-illegal/0000017f-db8b-d3ff-a7ff-fbab30640000 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>
On 18 November 2021, the United Nations Second Committee approved a draft resolution that demanded that: "Israel, the occupying Power, cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://undocs.org/en/A/C.2/76/L.35 |title=Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources |website=United Nations |quote=Demands that Israel, the occupying Power, cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/gaef3560.doc.htm |title=Second Committee Approves Nine Resolutions, Including One Voicing Deep Concern over 1.3 Billion People Living in Multidimensional Poverty |date=18 November 2021 |website=United Nations}}</ref>
== See also == {{columns-list| *Quneitra Governorate *Al-Marsad *Borders of Israel *Israeli-occupied territories *Front for the Liberation of the Golan *Golan Heights wind farm *Golan Regional Council *Golan Regiment, a Syrian para-military force *Independent Israel–Syria peace initiatives *International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict *Israel–Syria relations *Petroleum Road *Shouting Hill *Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab–Israeli conflict *UN Security Council Resolution 242 *UN Security Council Resolution 452 *UN Security Council Resolution 465 *UN Security Council Resolution 471 *United Nations General Assembly Resolution 66/225 }}
==Explanatory notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name= Gat>{{cite book |author=Moshe Gat |title=Britain and the Conflict in the Middle East, 1964–1967: The Coming of the Six-Day War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ntLdA8QIgXIC |access-date=7 September 2013 |year=2003 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-97514-2 |page=101 |quote=[on 1965] "Nasser too, assured the American under Secretary of state, Philip Talbot, that the Arabs would not exceed the water quotas prescribed by the Johnston plan"}}</ref>
<ref name= Sosland2007p70>Sosland, Jeffrey (2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ci0q-p0m0EC Cooperating Rivals: The Riparian Politics of the Jordan River Basin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024647/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ci0q-p0m0EC&dq= |date=14 December 2022 }}, SUNY Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-7201-9}} p. 70</ref>
<ref name=GrSh>The UNRWA commissioned a plan for the development of the Jordan River; this became widely known as "The Johnston plan". The plan was modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority development plan for the development of the Jordan River as a single unit. Greg Shapland, (1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=rveVbbDWD5MC Rivers of Discord: International Water Disputes in the Middle East] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214024648/https://books.google.com/books/about/Rivers_of_Discord.html?id=rveVbbDWD5MC&redir_esc=y |date=14 December 2022 }}, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1-85065-214-4}} p. 14</ref>
<ref name= ASh>{{cite book |author=Avi Shlaim |title=The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CW7GbiUkri0C |year=2000 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-028870-4 |pages=229, 230 |quote=In January 1964 an Arab League summit meeting convened in Cairo. The main item on the agenda was the threat posed by Israel's diversion of water … The preamble to its decision stated: "The establishment of Israel is the basic threat that the Arab nation in its entirety has agreed to forestall. And Since the existence of Israel is a danger that threatens the Arab nation, the diversion of the Jordan waters by it multiplies the dangers to Arab existence. Accordingly, the Arab states have to prepare the plans necessary for dealing with the political, economic and social aspects, so that if necessary results are not achieved, collective Arab military preparations, when they are not completed, will constitute the ultimate practical means for the final liquidation of Israel}}</ref>
<ref name= Murakami>{{cite book |author=Masahiro Murakami |title=Managing Water for Peace in the Middle East; Alternative Strategies |url=http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80858e/80858E0m.htm |year=1995 |publisher=United Nations University Press |isbn=978-92-808-0858-2 |pages=287–297}}</ref> }}
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==External links== {{sister project links|d=Q83210|c=Golan Heights|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=Golan Heights|m=no|mw=no|s=no|species=no|q=no}} *[https://www.un.int/syria/syria/syrian-golan The Syrian Golan] – Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations *[http://jawlan.org/ Jawlan.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929102515/http://www.jawlan.org/ |date=29 September 2013 }} {{in lang|ar}} *[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=87&letter=G&search=golan Gaulonitis] in The unedited full text of the 1906 ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' *[http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T3866 Golan, Gaulonitis] in the ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060214005537/http://qatzrin.muni.il/ts.exe?tsurl=0.752.18040.0.0 Qatzrin] *[http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000507 What is the dispute over the Golan Heights?] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824220747/http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000507 |date=24 August 2013 }} *[http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/062000/0006010.html A View From Damascus: Internal Refugees From Golan's 244 Destroyed Syrian Villages] from Washington Report
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Category:Golan Heights Category:Syria in the Arab–Israeli conflict Category:Quneitra Governorate Category:Syrian civil war Category:Great Rift Valley Category:Lava plateaus Category:Volcanic fields Category:Disputed territories in Asia Category:Territorial disputes of Israel Category:Israeli-occupied territories Category:Territorial disputes of Syria Category:Israel–Syria border Category:Geography of the Middle East