GOLAN HEIGHTS

About:

• Geography: 
  • The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, borders Israel, Lebanon and Jordan.
    
    
  • 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 Mount Hermon.
    
    
  
  
  
• Demography:
  • More than 40,000 people live on the Israeli-occupied Golan, more than half of them Druze residents. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam.
    
    
  • After annexing the Golan, Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship, but most rejected it and still identify as Syrian.
    
    
  • About another 20,000 Israeli settlers also live there.
    
    
  
  
  
• History of conflict:
  • The Golan Heights were part of Syria until 1967, when Israel captured most of the area in the Six Day War, occupying it and annexing it in 1981.
    
    
  • Syria tried to regain the Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but was thwarted. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan had been relatively quiet since.
    
    
  • That unilateral annexation was not recognised internationally, and Syria demands the return of the territory.
    
    
  
  
  
• Significance of Golan heights:
  • Israel says that the civil war in Syria demonstrates the need to keep the plateau as a buffer zone between Israeli towns and the instability of its neighbour.
    
    
  • Israel's government says it also fears that Iran, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is seeking to establish itself permanently on the Syrian side of the border in order to launch attacks on Israel.
    
    
  • Both sides covet the Golan's water resources and naturally fertile soil.
    
    
  
  
  
• Recent statement by Trump:
  • The recent statement follows Trump's decision in December 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the US Embassy to the city, which delighted Israel but infuriated Palestinians and many Arab political and religious leaders.
    
    
  • The Golan announcement is likely to further complicate Trump's long-awaited plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.