28 Facts About Golan Heights

Since the Six-Day War of 1967, the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel, whereas the eastern third remains under the control of Syria.

The Golan Heights Law was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 497, which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect", and Resolution 242, which emphasizes the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war".

Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan Heights, citing the text of Resolution 242, which calls for "secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force".

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 as well as various jihadist organizations such as al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-affiliated Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.

Gamla, a major Jewish stronghold in the Golan Heights, was captured in 67 CE, with, according to Josephus, its inhabitants committing mass suicide, preferring it to crucifixion and slavery.

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Data from surveys and excavations combined show that the bulk of sites in the Golan Heights were abandoned between the late sixth and early seventh 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.

The Golan Heights, including the spring at Wazzani and the one at Banias, thus became part of French Syria, while the Sea of Galilee was placed entirely within British Mandatory Palestine.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home, former Prime Minister of the UK, stated that when he was visiting the Galilee a few months before the 1967 war "at regular intervals the Russian-built forts on the Golan Heights used to lob shells into the villages, often claiming civilian casualties.

Merom Golan Heights was founded in July 1967 and by 1970 there were 12 settlements.

Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981.

The Golan Heights Law is not recognized internationally except by the United States, and was declared "null and void and without international legal effect" by United Nations Security Council Resolution 497.

The plan for the creation of the settlements, which initially begun in October 1967 with a request for a regional agricultural settlement plan for the Golan Heights, was formally approved in 1971 and later revised in 1976.

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.

From 2012 to 2018 in the Syrian Civil War, the eastern Golan Heights became a scene of repeated battles between the Syrian Arab Army, rebel factions of the Syrian opposition including the moderate Southern Front and jihadist al-Nusra Front, and factions affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group.

Claims on the territory include the fact that an area in northwestern of the Golan Heights region, delineated by a rough triangle formed by the towns of Banias, Quneitra and the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, was part of the British Palestine Mandate in which the establishment of a Jewish national home had been promised.

In 1923, this triangle in northwestern Golan Heights was ceded to the French Mandate in Syria, but in exchange for this, land areas in Syria and Lebanon was ceded to Palestine, and the whole of the Sea of Galilee which previously had its eastern boundary connected to Syria was placed inside Palestine.

Syria further holds that the final border line drawn up in 1923, which excluded the Golan Heights triangle, had superseded the 1920 agreement, although Syria has never recognised the 1923 border as legally binding.

International community, with the exception of the United States, considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory held under Israeli occupation.

The continued Israeli control of the Golan Heights remains highly contested and is still regarded as belligerent occupation by most countries.

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.

Finally, the eastern edge of the Golan Heights is carved out by the Raqqad river, along which are stretching the areas still controlled by Syria.

Topographically, the Golan Heights is a plateau with an average altitude of 1, 000 metres, rising northwards toward Mount Hermon and sloping down to about 400 metres elevation along the Yarmouk River in the south.

In Israel, the Golan Heights plateau is divided into three regions: northern, 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 500 metres to the Jordan River valley and the Sea of Galilee.

The Golan Heights receive significantly more precipitation than the surrounding, lower-elevation areas.

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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.

Kursi is an archaeological site and national park on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at the foothills of the Golan Heights, containing the ruins of a Byzantine Christian monastery connected to the Gospels.

Senaim is an archaeological site in northern Golan Heights that includes both Roman and Ancient Greek temples.