What is the significance of the Golan Heights?

With the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Israel has begun occupying the disputed Golan Heights. What is the significance of these hills, who lives there? Why is it important for Israel to gain control of the Golan Heights?

The Israeli government on Sunday vowed to double the population of the occupied Golan Heights, saying threats from Syria remained despite a moderate tone from rebel leaders who toppled President Bashar Assad.

Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981.

On December 8, after Assad fled Syria, Israeli forces entered a demilitarized zone inside Syria, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus, and captured an abandoned Syrian military post there.

Israel called the move a temporary measure to ensure border security.

Below is a brief overview of the Golan Heights, a 1,200-square-kilometer (460-square-mile) fertile and strategic plateau bordering Israel's Galilee region, as well as Lebanon and Jordan.

Why is this area controversial?

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced US support for Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, but the annexation was not recognized by most countries. Syria has demanded Israel withdraw, but Israel has rejected the demand, citing security concerns.

Syria attempted to retake the Golan Heights in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, but failed. Israel and Syria signed a peace treaty in 1974, and the Golan Heights has been relatively peaceful since then.

In 2000, Israel and Syria held high-level talks on the return of the Golan Heights and a peace agreement. However, these talks failed, and subsequent attempts have also failed.

Netanyahu said on Sunday that he spoke with Trump, who will return to the White House on January 20. The Israeli leader stressed that his country has no interest in entering into a conflict with Syria.

Why does Israel need the Golan?

Security. During the more than decade-long civil war in Syria, Israel has demonstrated the need to maintain the plateau as a buffer zone between Israeli cities and instability in the neighboring country.

The Israeli government has also expressed concern that Iran, a long-time ally of the Assad regime, is trying to strengthen its position on the Syrian side of the border to launch attacks on Israel. Israel frequently bombed suspected Iranian military facilities in Syria in the years before Assad's fall.

Both Israel and Syria have their eyes on the Golan's water resources and naturally fertile soil.

Who lives in Jolon?

Avraham Levin, an analyst at the Alma Research and Education Center, which specializes in security issues on Israel's northern border, said about 31,000 Israelis live there. Most of them are engaged in agriculture, including viticulture and tourism. Levin said that 24,000 Druze also live in the Golan. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice a branch of Islam.

The majority of Druze in Syria have long been loyal to the Assad regime. Many families have members on both sides of the border. After annexing the Golan, Israel offered Druze citizenship, but most have rejected it and continue to consider themselves Syrian.

Who controls the Syrian side of the Golan Heights?

Before the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, there was a tense situation between Israeli and Syrian forces.

But in 2014, anti-government Islamist rebels seized the Syrian province of Quneitra. The rebels forced Assad's forces to retreat and also attacked UN forces in the area, forcing them to abandon some of their positions.

The area remained under rebel control until the summer of 2018. After that, a Russian-backed offensive and a deal that allowed the rebels to withdraw allowed Assad's forces to return to the largely destroyed city of Quneitra and the surrounding area.

What separates the two sides of the border?

The United Nations Disarmament Observer Force (UNDOF) is stationed in camps and observation posts along the Golan Heights. They are assisted by military observers from the United Nations Trusteeship Organization (UNTSO).

Between Israeli and Syrian forces, there is a 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) "Demarcation Zone" - often referred to as a demilitarized zone - where the armed forces of both countries are not allowed under a ceasefire agreement.

The Separation of Forces Agreement of May 31, 1974, established the Alpha Line to the west of the disengagement area and the Bravo Line to the east. Israeli military forces were required to remain behind the Alpha Line, while Syrian military forces were required to remain behind the Bravo Line.

Outside the "Zone of Separation" is a "Zone of Restriction" extending 25 km (15 mi) on each side, in which the number of troops, quantities, and types of weapons on both sides are limited.

There is one crossing point between the Israeli and Syrian sides. Until the start of the Syrian civil war, this point was used mainly for the transport of UN forces, a limited number of Druze civilians, and agricultural products.

What happened after Assad was overthrown?

Netanyahu's government unanimously approved a plan last Sunday to allocate more than 40 million shekels ($11 million) to stimulate demographic growth in the Golan.

Netanyahu said he presented the plan to the government "due to the war and the new Syrian front, and the desire to double the population of the Golan Heights."

Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates condemned Israel's decision. The UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, described it as "a deliberate move to expand the occupation."

Israel is said to have carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria's strategic weapons stockpiles and military infrastructure, aimed at preventing them from being used by rebel groups that ousted Assad, some of which grew out of movements linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Syria's acting leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Saturday that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks in Syria, but that his country was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as it focused on reconstruction.

Sharaa, known as Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, leads the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which toppled Assad on December 8 and ended the family's five-decade iron-fisted rule.

He stressed that diplomatic solutions are the only way to ensure security and stability, and that "ill-considered military adventures" are not needed.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Sunday that recent events in Syria have increased the threat to Israel, "despite the moderate image that rebel leaders claim."

Prepared based on materials from the Reuters website.