Deadly attack on Golan Heights threatens to open new front in long-disputed territory

What are the Golan Heights?

The Golan Heights are situated in southwestern Syria and canopy an area of ​​1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of mostly rocky hills overlooking Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Today, greater than 40,000 people live there. More than half are Arab Druze, including a community in a small town Majdal Shams – the location of a recent attack. Many of them discover as Syrian residents and refuse to accept Israeli citizenship. The rest are Jewish settlers, most of whom arrived in the territory after it was occupied by Israel greater than half a century ago.

Could you tell us just a little in regards to the history of this occupation?

In June 1967, after The Six Day War Between Israel and its three Arab neighbors – Syria, Egypt and Jordan – the Golan Heights got here under Israeli occupation, as did East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.

This resulted in the adoption by the UN Security Council Resolution 242which called on Israel to withdraw from all these occupied territories. It also called for “an end to all claims and states of war and respect for and recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized borders, free from threats or acts of force.”

In 1973, Syrian troops retook the Golan Heights in a surprise attackbefore an Israeli counterattack retook them. Israel withdrew from some Syrian territory. However, it refused to return the Golan Heights and insisted that it might only achieve this after signing a peace treaty with Syria.

A 12 months later, Syria and Israel signed ceasefire agreementin which each countries agreed to a ceasefire and the appointment of a UN observer to maintain the ceasefire.

On December 14, 1981, eight years after the signing of the armistice agreement, the Israeli Knesset adopted The Law of the Golan Heightswhich prolonged Israel’s jurisdiction over the region. In other words, it annexed the Golan Heights.

The UN Security Council responded unanimously by adopting Resolution 497. He called the imposition of Israeli law on the Golan Heights illegal and called on Israel to reverse that call.

What is the present status of the Golan Heights?

Under international law, annexation of territory stays illegal. As such, the Golan Heights stays occupied territory, no matter Israeli law.

There have been some attempts to negotiate an answer. In 2000, delegations from Israel, Syria, and the United States we met in West Virginia for this purpose. However, the talks never led to anything.

Since then, the status of the Golan Heights has been sidelined as events elsewhere in the region have demanded greater attention: First, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 2000 sparked Palestinian protests that escalated into the Second Intifada, or rebellion. In 2006, war broke out between Hezbollah and Israel.

Then on March 25, 2019, the US President Donald Trump signed the proclamation supporting the annexation of the Golan Heights and recognizing them as Israeli territory. Echoing Israel’s arguments, the proclamation noted that control of the Golan Heights was crucial “to protect (Israel’s) security from external threats,” especially from “Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah.”

If the Golan Heights is occupied Syrian territory, why is Lebanon involved?

In addition to being an ally of Iran, Hezbollah has recently had a sophisticated but close relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assadintervening in the country’s civil war on behalf of the Assad regime. In this regard, Lebanese fighters see themselves as allies of Syria in its dispute with Israel over the Golan Heights.

But to complicate matters further, Lebanon and Hezbollah are locked in a long-running dispute that pits them against each Israel and Syria, centered on an area on the northern end of the Golan Heights called Shebaa Farms.

Israel claims that Shebaa Farms is an element of the annexed Golan Heights. After the designation of the cartographers, the United Nations declared that Shebaa Farms is in Syrian territory, and Assad claimed in 2011 that the land belongs to Syria.

Despite these claims, Hezbollah continues to maintain that the Shebaa Farms area is Lebanese territory and that Lebanon has the best to resist the Israeli occupation there.

Why is that this region perceived as vital?

The Golan Heights are viewed by Israel as a key strategic center.

The raised rocky plateau allows Israel to monitor activities in Syria and possibly repel any acts of aggression by Syria or Iran via Hezbollah supported by TehranSince Israel occupied this territory installed listening posts and military bases.

Meanwhile, the fertile land and other features of the Golan Heights make them a worthwhile asset. known for its vineyards and other agriculture. And the territory has wide access to water through the Jordan River, the Yarmouk River and the Sea of ​​Galilee. In fact, Israel has chronic water shortageusing the overwhelming majority of limited renewable water resources and use of additional water resources from the occupied territory.

Is an attack on the Golan Heights unusual?

While the Golan Heights has often been caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah, the newest attack undoubtedly marks an escalation in violence, and the undeniable fact that the victims were children makes it all of the more shocking.

It must be noted that Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel in support of the Gaza Strip for the reason that Israeli retaliatory strikes following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Israel and the United States have each accused Hezbollah attack on the Golan Heights on July 27, 2024. Hezbollah, for its part, denied any responsibility.

There are no less than two ways to interpret this attack, if Hezbollah was indeed responsible. One possibility is that the militant group misjudged the eye it might attract from the international community. Although Hezbollah fighters have engaged in near-daily attacks in northern Israel, the group has thus far seemed keen not to overstep its bounds in a way that might provoke a full-scale Israeli response or give the U.S. cause for further involvement.

An alternative explanation is that Hezbollah deliberately attacked children to send a signal to Israel that implies Hezbollah is willing and able to start a war on a dormant front: the Golan Heights in Syria.

What are the implications of the attack?

The consequences of a deliberate provocation by Iranian-backed Hezbollah may very well be grave and threaten to escalate the present conflict right into a regional conflict.

To avoid such a scenario, the United States, France and other countries called for an instantaneous de-escalation of tensions in the region.

If these appeals are ignored and the Israeli military responds with force – scary an escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah – then I imagine the implications of the attack on Majdal Shams may very well be dire.

Since the October 7 attack, greater than 95,000 people have been displaced in southern Lebanon and 60,000 in northern Israel in consequence of shelling by each side.

If the intensity of the conflict and the extent of force involved increase, the geographic scope could expand to encompass more villages and towns. And outside players, similar to Iran, could openly enter the war.

Such escalation is in nobody’s interest.