Deadly attack on Golan Heights threatens recent front in long-disputed territory

A rocket attack that 12 children killed while playing football on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on July 27, 2024, has sparked international concern that the Middle East conflict could spread to the disputed territory.

Israel has accused the Lebanese militant group Hezbollahand the country has already carried out retaliatory strikes and more are expected.

To explain the importance of the Golan Heights and the importance of the recent attack, The Conversation turned to Mireille Rebeiza scholar of Lebanese studies and chair of Middle Eastern studies at Dickinson College.

What are the Golan Heights?

The Golan Heights are positioned in southwestern Syria and consist of 1,200 square kilometers of mostly rocky hills with views of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

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

Can you tell us concerning the history of this career?

In June 1967, after the Six-Day War Located between Israel and three of its Arab neighbours – Syria, Egypt and Jordan – the Golan Heights, together with East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, fell under Israeli occupation.

This prompted the United Nations Security Council to adopt Resolution 242which called for Israel's withdrawal from all occupied territories. It also called for “the cessation of all claims and states of war, and respect and recognition of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states in the region and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized borders free from threats or acts of violence.”

In 1973, Syrian troops recaptured the Golan Heights in a surprise attackbefore Israel's counterattack recaptured the Golan Heights. Israel withdrew from some Syrian territories. However, it refused to return the Golan Heights, insisting that it will only achieve this after signing a peace treaty with Syria.

A 12 months later, Syria and Israel signed a Ceasefire agreementthrough which each countries agreed to a ceasefire and the deployment of a United Nations observer to keep up the ceasefire.

On 14 December 1981, eight years after the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli Knesset passed the Law on the Golan Heightsthereby extending Israeli jurisdiction over the region. In other words, it annexed the Golan Heights.

The United Nations Security Council responded by unanimously adopting Resolution 497It declared the appliance of Israeli law to the Golan Heights illegal and called on Israel to reverse its decision.

What is the present status of the Golan Heights?

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

There were some attempts to barter an answer. In 2000, Israeli, Syrian and US delegations met met in West Virginia for this purpose. However, the talks led to nothing.

Since then, the status of the Golan Heights has faded into the background as events elsewhere within the region demanded more attention: First, a provocative visit by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in 2000 sparked Palestinian protests that became the Second Intifada, or rebellion. A war followed in 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel.

Then, on March 25, 2019, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation the annexation of the Golan Heights and its recognition as Israeli territory. Echoing Israeli arguments, the proclamation identified that control of the Golan Heights was essential “in order to [Israel’s] Security from external threats”, particularly from “Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah”.

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

Hezbollah is just not only an ally of Iran, but additionally has a sophisticated but recently close relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assadwho’re intervening within the country's civil war on behalf of the Assad regime. The Lebanese militants see themselves as allies of Syria within the dispute with Israel over the Golan Heights.

To further complicate matters, Lebanon and Hezbollah are embroiled in a long-running conflict that brings them into conflict with each Israel and Syria. The conflict centers on an area on the northern end of the Golan Heights. called Shebaa Farms.

Israel claims that the Shebaa Farms are a part of the annexed Golan Heights. After appointing cartographers, the United Nations announced that the Shebaa Farms are positioned on Syrian territory. Assad claimed in 2011 that the country belonged to Syria.

Despite these claims, Hezbollah continues to assert that the Shebaa Farms area is Lebanese territory and that Lebanon has the appropriate to withstand the Israeli occupation there.

Why is the region considered vital?

The Golan Heights are viewed by Israel as an important strategic outpost.

The elevated rocky plateau allows Israel to watch Syrian activities and presumably repel any act of aggression from Syria or Iran by Hezbollah, supported by TehranSince occupying the world, Israel has installed listening stations and military bases.

At the identical time, the fertile land and other features of the Golan Heights make it a useful asset. It is known for its vineyards and other agriculture. And the world has wide access to water through the Jordan, the Yarmuk and the Sea of ​​Galilee. In fact, Israel has a chronic water deficiencyconsumes most of its limited renewable water reserves and Use of additional water resources from occupied land.

Is an attack on the Golan Heights unusual?

Although the Golan Heights have often been caught within the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah, this latest attack undoubtedly represents an escalation of violence. And the incontrovertible fact that children were among the many victims makes it all of the more shocking.

It needs to be noted that Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel in support of the Gaza Strip since Israeli retaliation following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

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

There are at the very least two ways to interpret this attack, if Hezbollah was indeed responsible. One possibility is that the militant group misjudged the eye the attack would attract from the international community. Although Hezbollah fighters perform attacks in northern Israel on an almost day by day basis, the group has – thus far – seemed careful to not go too far and provoke a full-scale Israeli response or a reason for further US involvement.

An alternative explanation is that Hezbollah deliberately targeted these children to send a message to Israel, suggesting that Hezbollah is willing and in a position to start a war on a dormant front: the Golan Heights in Syria.

What are the results of the attack?

The consequences of a deliberate provocation by the Iran-backed Hezbollah might be serious and there’s a risk that the present conflict could escalate right into a conflagration throughout the region.

To prevent such a scenario, the US, France and other countries called for immediate de-escalation within the region.

If these calls are ignored and the Israeli forces respond with force – thereby frightening an escalation with Hezbollah – then I imagine the results of the attack on Majdal Shams might be devastating.

Since the attack on October 7, greater than 95,000 people were displaced in southern Lebanon and 60,000 in northern Israel consequently of shelling by either side.

If the intensity of the conflict and the extent of violence used increase, the geographic focus could expand to incorporate more villages and towns. And external actors similar to Iran could openly enter the war.

Such an escalation is in nobody’s interest.