Middle East
Israel approves investment plan for occupied Golan Heights
Updated 12/15/2024 – 7:41 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
After the coup in Syria, Israel moved into a buffer zone in the border area on the Golan Heights – a strategically important rocky plateau. Israel wants to double the population of the Golan.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to invest the equivalent of more than ten million euros in the occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan aims to double the population there, his office said. Currently, more than 50,000 people live on the rocky plateau, just over half Jewish Israelis and the rest Druze and Alawites.
The background to the decision was the war and the “new front” with Syria, the statement said.
After the coup in Syria, Israel moved troops to areas beyond the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights. They moved into a so-called buffer zone, which is under UN surveillance in accordance with the 1974 ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu said during the government meeting: “Strengthening the Golan means strengthening Israel, and it is particularly important at this time.” The plateau will be “held, made to bloom and populated”.
The Golan Heights is a strategically important rocky plateau, approximately 60 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. It was conquered by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981. But this was not recognized internationally. Under international law, the areas are considered Israeli-occupied territory of Syria. Former and future US President Donald Trump formally recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory in March 2019, thereby completing a U-turn in US foreign policy.
Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s decision to expand settlement in the Golan Heights. The Arab kingdom spoke of a violation of international law and called on the international community not to tolerate Israel’s actions. A statement from the Foreign Ministry in the capital Riyadh also said that the Golan Heights were occupied Arab and Syrian land.
