Golan Heights
The Golan Heights covers 459 square miles (1,189 square kilometers) in northeast Israel and is bordered by Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War. Because of its high elevation overlooking Israel's Hula Valley, the Golan holds particular strategic importance in military warfare.
When Syria controlled the Golan Heights from 1948-67, it was used as a military stronghold from which its troops randomly sniped at Israeli civilians in the Hula Valley below.
Unlike the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which Israel has occupied from 1967 to the present, Israel annexed the Golan Heights with a Knesset vote in 1981.
Syria has demanded that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights as a part of any future peace deal. Israel has expressed a willingness to do so, but only if Damascus agrees to security guarantees and normal relations.
A spring in the Golan Heights
צילום: גילי סופר
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