copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-03): The Golan Heights are a rocky plateau in the Levant region of Western Asia that was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community, with the exception of Israel and the United States, considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory held by Israel under military occupation.[1] Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution.[2] [...] The international community, with the exception of Israel and the United States, regards the Golan to be Syrian territory held under Israeli occupation.[20][19][21] A number of states recognize the Israeli occupation as being legitimate under the United Nations Charter on a self-defense basis, but do not consider those concerns to allow for the annexation of territory seized by force.[19]
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-28): Golan Heights, disputed territory between Israel and Syria Jerusalem (AFP) – The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau where 12 youths were killed Saturday amid clashes between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israeli forces, is a strategic territory partially captured by Israel from Syria. [...] In the 1990s, Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations stalled over the issue of the Golan, with Damascus demanding the territory's complete return up to the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-28): Golan Heights, disputed territory between Israel and Syria Jerusalem (AFP) – The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau where 12 youths were killed Saturday amid clashes between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israeli forces, is a strategic territory partially captured by Israel from Syria. [...] Tens of thousands of Syrian as well as Palestinian residents fled or were expelled from the Golan Heights when Israel seized it, though some remained in the Israeli-controlled part.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-25): Ramat Hamagshimim, in what is now Syria. First Aliyah (1881-1903) immigrants established five small communities on this land, but were forced to leave by the Turks in 1898. The lands were farmed until 1947 by the Palestine Colonization Association and the Israel Colonization Association, when they were seized by the Syrian army. Most of the Golan Heights were included within Mandatory Palestine when the mandate was formally granted in 1922, but Britain ceded the area to France in the Franco-British Agreement of March 7, 1923. The Heights became part of Syria upon the termination of the French mandate in 1944. Zionists attempted to buy land in the area, but the French would not allow them to do so because of their concern that the British would then seek to take control of the Heights as part of the Palestine mandate. [...] From 1948-67, when Syria controlled the Golan Heights, it used the area as a military stronghold from which its troops randomly sniped at Israeli civilians in the Huleh Valley below, forcing children living on kibbutzim to sleep in bomb shelters. In addition, many roads in northern Israel could be crossed only after probing by mine-detection vehicles. In late 1966, a youth was blown to pieces by a mine while playing football near the Lebanon border. In some cases, attacks were carried out by Yasir Arafat’s Fatah, which Syria allowed to operate from its territory. [...] "Syria Gains Control of Golan Heights," Center for Israel Education.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): Golan Heights profile - Published The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, about 60km (40 miles) south-west of Damascus and covers about 1,000 sq km. It has a political and strategic significance which belies its size. [...] Syria wants to secure the return of the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal. In late 2003, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready to revive peace talks with Israel.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-29): What is the Golan Heights? The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in southwestern Syria, about 60km (40 miles) south of Damascus. It is bordered by the Yarmouk river in the south and the Sea of Galilee in the west. [...] - Besides the United States, no country formally recognises Israel’s annexation of the region. All other countries consider the Golan to be Syrian territory occupied by Israel, - In 1981, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights, calling on Israel to rescind its imposition of Israeli law on the plateau. It declared Israel’s rule over Golan "null and void and without international legal effect".
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-21): The Golan Heights is a territory in Israel’s northeast corner, on the Syrian border. It’s rural, mountainous and mostly empty. Fewer than 50,000 people live there — less than 1 percent of Israel’s population of 8.7 million. Half of the Golan’s residents are Jewish Israelis who live mostly in small agricultural communities. The other half are from a religious group called the Druze, who are mostly citizens of Syria. [...] Good question! The Golan wasn’t always controlled by Israel. Until 1967, it was part of Syria, but Israel took control of the area that year in the Six-Day War. Israelis began moving there almost immediately, and Israel fully annexed the Golan in 1981, treating it like any other part of the country. It offered the Syrian Druze residents citizenship, but most of them have declined. [...] Kind of. Israel thinks so, but no other country has recognized its sovereignty over the heights — including the U.S. The international community sees the Golan as Syrian territory occupied by Israel in a war — a view shared by every president before Trump.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-29): The Golan Heights has officially been recognised as part of Syria since the country acquired independence in 1944. [...] The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau straddling Israel and Syria and overlooking southern Lebanon. It was captured by Israel during the Middle East war of 1967 and subsequently annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. [...] The Golan is recognised as part of Syria by the United Nations. UN Resolution 242 calls for Israel to withdraw from Golan and other territories it occupied in 1967, including Gaza and the West Bank.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-22): Golan Heights: Why it matters to US, Israel and Syria [...] The Golan was Syrian territory until 1967, when Israel occupied it in the Six-Day War and later annexed it. The 1981 annexation was not recognized internationally and UN Security Council Resolutions determined Israeli sovereignty over the area to be null and void pending negotiations with Syria. [...] The Golan is a hilly, 1,200-square-kilometer (460-square-mile) plateau overlooking Lebanon, Syria and the Jordan Valley.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-05-14): When Iran recently attacked the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from its positions in south-west Syria, Israel responded with a volley of air strikes that it says all but destroyed "almost all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria". It was a dramatic flare-up in a long-running enmity – and it was no coincidence that it happened over one of the most contested areas in the Middle East. [...] The Golan Heights is an area of 1,800km² on the border between Israel and Syria. Today it’s mostly occupied by Israel, but it was under Syrian sovereignty until June 1967, when Israel took control of most of the area in the Six-Day War, a military conflict with Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Although Israel controls only about two-thirds of what is known as the Golan Heights, it controls the most strategic points. [...] The Golan Heights’ high altitude provides it with observation points deep into Syria, with which Israel has never formally made peace. Israel has long wanted to reach bilateral political settlements with some of its Arab neighbours, and one of its strategies was to occupy territory and return it through negotiation. In the vernacular of Arab-Israeli relations, this is known as "land for peace".
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2007-12-13): On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack on Israeli forces in the Sinai and the Golan Heights. Israel ultimately repelled the attack and regained lost ground, but only after the United States made the decision to supply the Israeli military. This war ultimately compelled the Nixon administration to step up its efforts to settle the decades old dispute. [...] With negotiations stalled, Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked Israeli forces on October 6, 1973 in the Sinai and the Golan Heights in an effort to regain territory they had lost during the 1967 war. These attacks occurred on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, and took Israeli forces by surprise as Israeli intelligence had failed to detect the months of secret preparations by Egypt and Syria. During the first few days of the war, Egypt and Syria secured victories in the Sinai and the Golan. In the south, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and overran the Israeli military's extensive fortifications, forcing the Israelis back. The Israelis did not fare better in the Golan Heights. Israeli positions in the eastern Golan fell to the advancing Syrian army. With a lack of tanks and manpower, Israeli troops had to withdraw from many positions in the southern sector of the Golan Heights.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-02-12): Syria: Forty years on, people displaced from the Golan remain in waiting - Document source: Syria: Forty years on, people displaced from the Golan remain in waiting
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-28): Golan Heights, disputed territory between Israel and Syria The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau where 12 youths were killed Saturday amid clashes between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israeli forces, is a strategic territory partially captured by Israel from Syria. [...] In the 1990s, Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations stalled over the issue of the Golan, with Damascus demanding the territory's complete return up to the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-28): President Donald J. Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights upends a half century of U.S. policy. The strategically important plateau has been widely considered under international law to be occupied territory since its 1967 seizure from Syria. In his proclamation, Trump cited security needs as paramount, though in practice Israeli control has not been challenged for decades. Experts warn the move could weaken international prohibitions on acquiring territory by force. [...] The seven-hundred-square-mile Golan Heights overlooks Israel to its west, Lebanon to its north, Syria to its east, and Jordan to its south. During the 1967 Six Day War, Syrian forces on the Golan Heights shelled Israeli farms in the Hula Valley below, and Israeli forces captured the territory from them following the Israeli seizure of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. [...] Civil war in Syria since 2011 has given the Golan Heights new strategic significance for Israel. As President Bashar al-Assad’s grasp on power appeared tenuous, he bound himself to Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia movement, to ensure his regime’s survival. Fighting between rebel and regime-aligned forces brought Iran’s Quds Force, an elite paramilitary unit, and Hezbollah militants to the edge of the Golan Heights. As Assad has consolidated his control, Israelis now worry that Iran and its proxies could maintain a permanent foothold there.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-28): The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau that Israeli seized from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967, before formally annexing it in 1981. The hilly landscape, which spans some 500 square miles, also shares a border with Jordan and Lebanon. [...] The Golan Heights is considered to be occupied territory under international law and UN Security Council resolutions, and Syria continues to demand it be returned. [...] More than 20,000 Druze live in the Golan Heights. Most of them identify as Syrian and rejected an offer of Israeli citizenship when Israel seized the region in 1967. Those who refused were given Israeli residency cards but are not considered Israeli citizens.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2018-01-23): The safe zone appears intended to keep the Syrian army and its Iranian and Lebanese allies as far away from Israel’s border as possible, as well as solidify Israel’s control over the occupied Golan Heights. Israel seized the Golan from Syria in 1967’s Six-Day War. Expanding a buffer zone would likely make any negotiations over the return of the Syrian territory more difficult in the future, because the Golan Heights will be surrounded on both sides by areas with significant Israeli influence. [...] It’s not just Iran and its allied forces in Lebanon that Israel is concerned about, however, but also its control over the Golan Heights. Israel captured the 1,200-square-kilometer territory of land in 1967 and has occupied it since. Unlike the other territories it occupies, Israel officially annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move condemned by the international community. While Israel has spent decades seeking international legitimacy for its claim, only in the last five years — with the Syrian Civil War at its doorstep — have these calls for international recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory become louder and more prevalent in its political and diplomatic circles. [...] The push into Syrian territory is being done in tandem with an increase in Israeli activity inside the occupied Golan Heights. The push includes expanding Israeli settlement activity; investing more in local infrastructure and the local economy; encouraging the 20,000 Syrians still living there to take Israeli citizenship and participate in local elections; and the licensing and approval of a controversial multimillion-dollar oil exploration project — all toward the aim of cementing Israel’s hold on the Golan Heights.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-27): The Golan Heights belongs to Syria [...] Now, it recognizes Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights, which is part of Syria and the Arab world. Thus, Trump will frustrate the Arab public even further. These unilateral moves have pushed the U.S. down to the same level of the Israeli state. [...] The Golan Heights is Syrian territory, and nothing can change this reality. Therefore, Trump's decision cannot legitimize its illegal Israeli occupation. While this move can bring political benefits for both Trump and Netanyahu, it will not bring peace and stability. This decision and the previous Jerusalem decision will only increase regional tension and damage the peace process, if there is any. For sure, the recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory will endanger Trump's own peace plan as well.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): The Syrian Golan is a region in southwest Syria which was occupied on June 5, 1967 by Israeli forces. The Golan's overall land mass is 1,860 square kilometers, which is approximately 1 percent of Syria's total area, about 1,500 square kilometers remains under Israeli occupation. Before this 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. Till this day, almost 40 years later, the Syrian inhabitants of the Golan are still unable to return to their homes, towns and cities. Today these Syrians exceed 500,000 people. Some Syrians remained in the Occupied Syrian Golan and continue to live in small villages amounting to approximately 20,000 Syrians. Most of the Syrian cities, towns and villages in the Golan were destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, who in turn have built over 40 illegal settlements despite all international condemnation. Israel continues not only to occupy the Syrian Golan but to also destroy its ancient ruins and geopolitical atmosphere for the sole purpose of cleansing the Golan of its Syrian people and their history.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-03-25): "The Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect," the resolution said. [...] Located in southwest Syria and overlooking the freshwater of the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights borders Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. At 1,150sq km (444sq miles), the plateau is more than three times the size of the besieged Gaza Strip. [...] For its part, the Syrian government says the Golan belongs to Syria – and the US position on it does not affect that fact. The Syrian foreign ministry called the US move in 2019 a "blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria – language that mirrors the State Department’s current comments on Ukraine.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-27): MANSOUR AYYAD SH. A. ALOTAIBI (Kuwait) emphasized that the Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel in violation of Council resolutions. Israel’s decision to impose its authority is null and void, with no impact on the international stage, he added, expressing regret at the decision by the United States. Kuwait supports Syria’s desire to regain all of the Golan Heights, he stressed, commending UNDOF as one of the few remaining sources of stability in the region. Emphasizing that the Area of Separation must be free of any military presence, he called upon all parties concerned to demonstrate restraint and avoid escalating tensions. [...] MUHSIN SYIHAB (Indonesia) urged all parties to abide by the Disengagement of Forces Agreement and maintain the ceasefire because tensions could put civilians and UNDOF personnel at risk. Emphasizing the need to allocate sufficient resources to support UNDOF’s operations on the Bravo side, he said Indonesia strongly opposes recognition by the United States of the Golan as Israeli territory. Such unilateral action will further complicate the already complex situation in the Middle East and jeopardize the credibility of the Council and multilateralism, he said. Indonesia recognizes the Golan as an inalienable part of Syria, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter and Council resolutions, he stressed.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-25): The State of Israel took control of the Golan Heights in 1967 to safeguard its security from external threats. Today, aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hizballah, in southern Syria continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel. Any possible future peace agreement in the region must account for Israel’s need to protect itself from Syria and other regional threats. Based on these unique circumstances, it is therefore appropriate to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim that, the United States recognizes that the Golan Heights are part of the State of Israel.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-05): Golan Heights, hilly area overlooking the upper Jordan River valley on the west. The area was part of extreme southwestern Syria until 1967, when it came under Israeli military occupation, and in December 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the part of the Golan it held. The area’s name is from the biblical city of refuge Golan in Bashan (Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8). [...] In 1894 the French-Jewish banker Baron Edmond de Rothschild bought a large tract of land for Jewish settlement in the Golan; he was followed by other groups in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Jewish colonization was attempted but was frustrated by the hostility of the Arab population and by the Ottoman land laws, which virtually forbade settlement by nonnatives. After World War I the Golan became part of the French mandate of Syria and in 1941 passed to independent Syria. After the Arab-Israeli War of 1948–49, Syria fortified the western crest of the Golan Heights, which commands the Ḥula Valley, the Sea of Galilee, and the upper Jordan River valley, all in Israel. In these sections many Israeli civilians were killed by Syrian artillery and sniper fire; agriculture and fishing were rendered difficult, and at times impossible.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-29): The Golan Heights has officially been recognised as part of Syria since the country won independence in 1944. [...] The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau straddling Israel and Syria and overlooking southern Lebanon. It was captured by Israel during the Middle East war of 1967 and subsequently annexed in a move never recognised by the international community. [...] The Golan is recognised as part of Syria by the United Nations. UN Resolution 242 calls for Israel to withdraw from Golan and other territories it occupied in 1967, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Claim: Golan Heights is a territory of Syria (Golan Heights, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-30): Located in southwestern Syria, the Golan Heights is 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of mainly stony hills that overlook Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. [...] If the Golan Heights is occupied Syrian territory, why is Lebanon involved? [...] Israel claims that the Shebaa Farms is part of the annexed Golan Heights. After appointing cartographers, the United Nations announced that the Shebaa Farms is in Syrian territory, and Assad asserted that the land was Syrian in 2011.