Explained: Importance of Golan Heights and why Israel seeks to control it

Continuing its decades-long land-grabbing spree, Israel has announced plans to expand settlements in the Golan Heights, the Syrian territory of 1,800 kilometres that Tel Aviv illegally occupied in 1967.

The strategic area overlooks four countries – Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan – and is considered a vantage military position in a strife-torn region.

The Israeli government has set aside more than $11 million to “encourage demographic growth” in the Golan Heights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to double its population at the Golan Heights. “We will continue to hold onto (the Golan Heights), cause it to blossom, and settle in it,” he said.

Tel Aviv considers the Golan Heights a crucial asset for Israel’s national security. That’s because the strategically significant plateau gives Israel a military advantage over the three neighbouring countries.

Netanyahu’s duplicity

The ceasefire between Israel and Syria collapsed on December 8 after lasting for half a century. Israeli tanks rolled into the so-called buffer zone, a demilitarised area between Israel and Syria that has remained under Israeli occupation for decades, amid the fall of the Assad regime.

Israeli forces not only reached the Syrian side of the mountain but also deployed troops there to create another defensive buffer zone.

Israel justified its military action, saying the change of government in Damascus meant ceasefire arrangements had “collapsed” and it needed to neutralise potential threats from the new government.

At the time of its advance into the eastern part of the heights, Netanyahu said it was only a temporary defensive position “until a suitable arrangement is found”.

However, The Economist pointed out that the same sentence was missing from an otherwise identical statement in Hebrew, implying that Netanyahu mentioned the “temporary position” in the English-language statement only to placate international audiences for the time being.

One week later, Netanyahu announced the settlement expansion plan in the occupied Golan Heights, saying the move had become “necessary” as a “new front” opened up on Israel’s border with Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

Home to Druze, Circassian people

Under Syrian control until 1967, the Golan Heights were home to mainly Druze and Circassian people. The Syrian military forces used the Golan Heights’ elevated position to shell Israeli communities before the Six-Day War of 1967 in which Israel captured the territory.

The victory was of strategic importance, providing Israel with a buffer against Syrian attacks and control over key water resources, including the Sea of Galilee.

Israel is using the same logic in 2024 to fortify its territorial gains that stretch past the occupied Golan Heights into the previously demilitarised buffer zone.

Netanyahu has directed the Israeli army to “neutralise potential threats from Syria and to prevent terrorist elements” from establishing a foothold near Israeli borders.

The 1967 war displaced most of the area’s original Arab population of around 130,000. Israel then began establishing Jewish settlements in the region, arguing that the Golan Heights were critical for security and development.

About 50,000 people now live in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, half of whom are Israeli settlers while the other half consists of Druze, which make up 1.6 percent of Israel’s population and follow a distinct faith considered an offshoot of Shia Islam.

They live in 33 Jewish settlements, which are incorporated into the Golan Regional Council.

These settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Syria unsuccessfully tried to take back control of the Golan Heights in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Subsequently, a disengagement agreement with Israel in 1974 resulted in Tel Aviv ceding its control over some Syrian territories. Golan Heights, however, continued to stay under Israeli occupation.

Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981—a move that was never recognised internationally. The UN Security Council declared the annexation “null and void”.

No country recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights until March 2019 when the US decided unilaterally to recognise the area as part of Israel.

Netanyahu is already facing strong opposition at home for trying to expand settlements on occupied territories.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying that he did not “see any reason” for Israel to expand into Golan Heights.

“[Netanyahu] said we are not interested in expanding the confrontation with Syria and we hope we will not need to fight against the new rebels that are presently taking over Syria. So why do we do precisely the opposite? We have enough problems to deal with.”