• India has voted in favour of a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly that expressed deep concern over Israel not withdrawing from the Syrian Golan.

• The Syrian Golan is a region in southwest Syria that was occupied by Israeli forces on June 5, 1967.

• The 193-member UN General Assembly voted on the draft resolution on November 28. 

• The resolution, introduced by Egypt, was adopted by a recorded vote with 91 in favour, eight against and 62 abstentions.

What is Golan Heights issue?

• The Six-Day War was fought between June 5 and June 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria

• Between June 5 and June 10, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. 

• This occupation has resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as well as Syrians.

• Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria and annexed it in 1981.

• Most of the international community considers the move, and Israeli settlements in the territory, illegal under international law.

• The Golan Heights is a region in southwest Syria. Before the Israeli occupation, the Golan was home to over 140,000 Syrians, most of whom were driven out of their homeland and into Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) status. 

• Most of the Syrian cities, towns and villages in the Golan were destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, who in turn have built illegal settlements despite all international condemnation. 

• Syria tried to regain Golan Heights in the 1973 Middle East war, but was thwarted. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan had been relatively quiet since.

• On December 14, 1981, Israel annexed the Occupied Syrian Golan. The international community responded with Security Council Resolution, which unanimously called this move “null and void”. 

• Since then, every year the UN General Assembly passes a resolution titled “The Occupied Syrian Golan” which reaffirms the illegality of the Israeli occupation and annexation. 

• In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. But the negotiations collapsed and subsequent talks also failed.

Highlights of the new resolution

• The resolution said it is deeply concerned that Israel has not withdrawn from the Syrian Golan, which has been under occupation since 1967, contrary to the relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

• It also declared the Israeli decision of December 14, 1981, null and void and said it had no validity whatsoever. It called upon Israel to rescind its decision.

• The resolution also stressed the illegality of the Israeli settlement construction and other activities in the occupied Syrian Golan since 1967.

• It demanded Israel’s withdrawal from all the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of June 4, 1967, in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, and determined that the continued occupation of the Syrian Golan and its de facto annexation constitute a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.

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