# Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab–Israeli conflict

Before the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War, the Golan Heights comprised 312 inhabited areas, including 2 towns, 163 villages, and 108 farms. In 1966, the Syrian population of the Golan Heights was estimated at 147,613. Israel seized about 70% of the Golan Heights in the closing stages of the Six-Day War. Many of these residents fled during the fighting, or were driven out by the Israeli army, and some were evacuated by the Syrian army. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 1992 characterized Israel's actions as "ethnic cleansing".
Israel forcibly expelled Syrians from the Golan Heights. There were also instances of Israeli soldiers killing Syrian residents including blowing up their home with people inside.
A cease-fire line was established and large parts of the region came under Israeli military control, including the town of Quneitra, about 139 villages and 61 farms. Of these, the Census of Population 1967 conducted by the Israeli Defence Forces listed only eight, including Quneitra. One of the remaining populated villages, Shayta, was partially destroyed in 1967 and a military post built in its place. Between 1971–72 it was eradicated, with the remaining population forcibly transferred to Mas'ade, another of the populated villages under Israeli control. Focaal reports that "95% of the Syrian indigenous population was forcibly displaced and only five villages, out of 340 villages and farms, remained."
The Israeli Head of Surveying and Demolition Supervision for the Golan Heights proposed the demolition of 127 unpopulated villages, with about 90 abandoned villages to be demolished shortly after May 15, 1968. The demolitions were carried out by contractors hired for the job. After the demolitions, the lands were given to Israeli settlers. There was an effort to preserve buildings of archaeological significance and buildings useful for the planned Jewish settlements.
After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, parts of the occupied Golan Heights were returned to Syrian control, including Quneitra, which had changed hands several times during the war. According to a United Nations Special Committee, Israeli forces had deliberately destroyed the city before their 1974 withdrawal.
In 2024, after Israel expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights, Israel attempted to depopulate several Syrian villages in the newly occupied area. After the residents declined, Israel began destroying the electricity and water networks in the villages to attempt to forcibly get the residents out. On 18 December, it was reported that over 100 Syrian families had been forcibly expelled from the Golan Heights by the Israeli military. Witnesses describe that Israeli soldiers had opened fire on them and on their homes. The United Nations peacekeepers have been removing Israeli flags in the newly occupied area.

## Depopulated and demolished towns and villages

* Destroyed buildings in Quneitra
* Ruins at 'Ayn Fit
* Destroyed Mosque in Khishniyah
* Demolition of a two-storied house in Fiq, 1967
* Forced transfer and displacement. Syrian civilians, hands raised, before Israeli soldiers, leave their homes in the Golan Heights