Golan Heights

A volcanic plateau above the Sea of Galilee. It is a trick question: it was never part of Palestine.

History

1. 1923The British and French drew the Mandate borders and placed the Golan in French-ruled Syria, not Palestine.
2. 1948–67Syrian positions on the heights regularly shelled Israeli farms below.
3. 1967Captured by Israel. Most of the Arab population fled or was displaced, but the Druze villages stayed.
4. 1981Israel extended its law to the Golan. UN Security Council Resolution 497 declared this null and void. The US recognized Israeli sovereignty in 2019.
5. Dec 2024After the Assad regime fell, Israeli forces moved into the buffer zone on the Syrian side.

Today

Claimed by Syria, not by the Palestinians. About half its residents are Druze; the other half are Israeli Jews.