Hezbollah Attacks on Israel: A Lebanese terrorist group attacked the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with a rocket, killing at least 12 people, including children, and injuring more than 29. The Golan Heights is a mountainous region located in southwestern Syria, which is considered politically and strategically very important. Israel partially occupied the Golan Heights after the Six Day War with Syria in 1967, after which most Syrians left their homes there.
Damascus as seen from the Golan Heights
The water-filled Golan Heights overlooks the Galilee region of northern Israel and the Sea of Galilee. Apart from this, the Syrian capital Damascus is clearly visible from the top of the Golan Heights. The distance between these two places is about 60 kilometers. During the 1973 war, Israel captured an additional area of about 510 square kilometers (about 200 square miles), but returned it to Syria under the ceasefire agreement the following year. Along with this, a small part of the area captured in 1967 was also returned to it.
A ceasefire was imposed between the two countries since 1974 and since then the United Nations forces are deployed on the ceasefire line. About 1,200 square kilometer area of Golan Heights, which also borders Lebanon and Jordan, was occupied by Israel on 14 December 1981. After this, Israel announced to annex the Golan Heights to its territory, which was not recognized by the international community.
Peace talks were stalled over the Golan issue
In the 1990s, Israeli-Syrian peace talks stalled over the issue of Golan. Then Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to return some part of Golan to Syria, but Syria demanded the return of the entire area.
Apple production is a major source of income for farmers in the Golan Heights, although its rocky terrain makes it limited for cultivation. The issue of water resources on the Golan was a cause of dispute between Israel and Syria for years before the 1967 war.
Since the Syrian war began in 2011, Israel has attacked its northern neighbor hundreds of times, mainly targeting army posts and Iran-backed fighters including Hezbollah. Israel and Syria are officially at war, although the ceasefire line has remained quiet for the past several decades. Tensions escalated after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, triggering a war in the Gaza Strip.
read this also : Maldives News: China supporter Muizzu came on his knees, started using Dornier helicopter, said this about India