Golan Heights, disputed territory between Israel and Syria

Following the conquest of about two-thirds of the plateau during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel in 1981 annexed the area in a move not recognised by the international community, with the exception of the United States since 2019. Rich in water, the Golan Heights overlooks northern Israel's Galilee region and the Sea of Galilee, and dominates the route to Damascus on the Syrian-controlled side. Annexation The Golan, the region's biblical Hebrew name, or Jawlan in Arabic, has been coveted by empires and foreign rulers for millenia.