Who controls the Golan?

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.

Syria failed to regain control over the Golan in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which ended in a 1974 armistice and placement of a UN observer force along the ceasefire line.

Syria demands the return of all or part of the territory in exchange for any future peace deal with Israel. Repeated indirect and direct peace talks between Israel and Syria have failed to reach an agreement.

Read more: Trump: Time for US to 'fully recognize' Golan Heights as Israeli

Who lives there?

There are about 40,000 people living in the Golan. Around half of them are Jewish settlers. The rest are Druze and a small minority of Alawites. Druze are Arabs who practice an offshoot of Islam. Many of them consider themselves Syrian. Alawites are a branch of Shiite Islam. Syrian President Bashar Assad and key figures in his regime are Alawites.

Read more: The Druze: The Middle East's most persecuted people?

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Long-held hope is victorious On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, future first prime minister of Israel, declares the state's independence, outlining the Jewish story: "The people kept faith with (the land) throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom." It was the birth of an internationally recognized Jewish homeland.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence The darkest hour While the controversial idea of a God-given land for Jews has biblical roots, the Holocaust was a close, powerful backdrop for the significance of Israel's founding. Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews across Europe, and those who survived the concentration camps endured expulsion and forced labor. The above photo shows survivors of the Auschwitz camp following liberation.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence 'Nakba': Arabic for 'catastrophe' That is the word that Palestinians and their supporters use to mark Israel's independence. About 700,000 Arabs living in Palestine at the time fled as waves of Jewish immigrants arrived to settle in the new Jewish state. The birth of Israel was the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which remains unresolved 70 years later despite numerous attempts.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Life on a kibbutz These land collectives, known as kibbutzim in the plural, were established across Israel following independence. Many were run by secular or socialist Jews in an effort to realize their vision of society.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence A state at war Tensions with its Arab neighbors erupted in the Six-Day War in June 1967. With a surprise attack, Israel is able to swiftly defeat Egypt, Jordan and Syria, bringing the Arab-populated areas of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights under Israeli control. Victory leads to occupation — and more tension and conflict.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Settlements on disputed territory Israel's settlement policy worsens the conflict with Palestinians. Due to development and expansion of Jewish areas on occupied Palestinian land, the Palestinian Authority accuses Israel of making a future Palestinian state untenable. Israel has largely ignored the international community's criticism of its settlement policy, arguing new construction is either legal or necessary for security.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Anger, hate and stones: The first intifada In winter 1987, Palestinians begin mass protests of Israel's ongoing occupation. Unrest spreads from Gaza to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The uprising eventually wound down and led to the 1993 Oslo Accords — the first face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the representative body of the Palestinian people.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Peace at last? With former US President Bill Clinton as a mediator, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat hold peace talks. The result, the Oslo I Accord, is each side's recognition of the other. The agreement leads many to hope that an end to the Israel-Palestine conflict is not far off, but peace initiatives suffer a major setback when Rabin is assassinated two years later.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence A void to fill A right-wing Jewish fanatic shoots and kills Rabin on November 4, 1995, while he is leaving a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Rabin's assassination throws the spotlight on Israel's internal social strife. The divide is growing between centrist and extremist, secular and religious. The photo shows Israel's then-acting prime minister, Shimon Peres, next to the empty chair of his murdered colleague.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence Addressing the unspeakable Nazi Germany's mass murder of Jews weighs on German-Israeli relations to this day. In February 2000, Germany's then-President Johannes Rau addresses the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in German. It is a tremendous emotional challenge for both sides, especially for Holocaust survivors and their descendants, but also a step towards closer relations after unforgettable crimes.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence The Israeli wall In 2002, amid the violence and terror of the Second Intifada, Israel starts building a 107-kilometer-long (67-mile-long) barrier of barbed wire, concrete wall and guard towers between itself and Palestinian areas of the West Bank. It suppresses the violence but does not solve the larger political conflict. The wall grows in length over the years and is projected to reach around 700 kilometers.

Promised land, enemy land: Israel 70 years after independence A gesture to the dead Germany's current foreign minister, Heiko Maas, steps decisively into an ever closer German-Israeli relationship. His first trip abroad as the country's top diplomat is to Israel in March 2018. At the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, he lays a wreath in memory of Holocaust victims. Author: Kersten Knipp



Why Golan is strategically important

The Golan is a hilly, 1,200-square-kilometer (460-square-mile) plateau overlooking Lebanon, Syria and the Jordan Valley.

The Golan is only 60 km (40 miles) from Damascus and provides Israel with a strong defensive-offensive position and vantage point to observe military movements across the border. On the other hand, Syrian control over the Golan would provide it with strategic heights overlooking Israel.

The security dimension has been heightened by the civil war in Syria, which has seen Iran and its Lebanese Shiite ally Hezbollah entrench themselves on Israel's doorstep through their support of the Assad regime. Israel says Iran and Hezbollah pose a threat and the Golan provides a security barrier.

What resources does Golan have?

Another key issue is water resources in an arid region. The Golan catchment area feeds into the Jordan River and Sea of Galilee, both major sources of water for Israel.

The fertile land is used for agriculture, with growing areas for vineyards and orchards.

It is also home to the only ski resort in Israel.

Watch video 08:37 Share Golan Heights Recognition Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3FSf7 Golan Heights Recognition

What are the international repercussions of recognizing Israeli sovereignty?

There is more than a security and water-resource dimension to President Donald Trump's announcement that the US should recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan.

It would also set a precedent that territory can be captured in war in violation of international law. Russia, for example, will take note of the inconsistency after five years of Western condemnation following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 497, both supported by the United States, provide the legal basis stating that Israeli unilateral annexation of Syrian territory is in violation of international law.

Read more: 70 years old now — an Israeli story

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Rise of Hezbollah Hezbollah, or Party of God, was conceived by Muslim clerics in the 1980s in response to the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The Shiite group has a political and military wing.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization National support against Israel Hezbollah emerged in the 1980s as an amalgamation of Shiite militias and played a major role in the Lebanese civil war. It used guerrilla warfare to drive Israeli forces out of South Lebanon — Israel withdrew in 2000. Israel and Hezbollah fought another war in 2006. Its defense of Lebanon against Israel had won it cross-sectarian support and acceptance in Lebanese society.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Backed by Iran Since its creation, Hezbollah has received military, financial and political support from Iran and Syria. Today, Hezbollah's military wing is more powerful than Lebanon's own army and has become a major regional paramilitary force.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Political apparatus Hezbollah turned its focus to politics following the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. It represents a large section of the Lebanese Shiite population and is allied with other sectarian groups, including Christians. Their political development has mostly come under Hassan Nasrallah (pictured), who became the group's leader in 1992.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Armed wing Unlike other parties in Lebanon's multi-sided 1975-1990 civil war, Hezbollah did not disband its armed wing. Some Lebanese political groups, such as Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement, want Hezbollah to put down its arms. Hezbollah argues its militant wing is necessary to defend against Israel and other external threats.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Terror group? A number of countries and bodies, including the United States, Israel, Canada and the Arab League, consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, Australia and most of the European Union differentiate between its legitimate political activities and its militant wing.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Hezbollah enters Syria's civil war Hezbollah has been one of the main backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's civil war. Its entrance into the war helped save Assad, one of its chief patrons; secured weapons supply routes from Syria and formed a buffer zone around Lebanon against Sunni militant groups it feared would take over Syria. As a result it has won considerable support from Shiite communities in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Sectarianism Lebanon has long been at the center of regional power struggles, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, Hezbollah's military and political ascendancy, as well as its intervention in Syria, have also helped stoke Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions in Lebanon and across the region.

Hezbollah, Lebanon's Iran-backed paramilitary organization Renewed conflict with Israel? Iran and Hezbollah have increased their political and military strength through the war in Syria. Israel views this as a threat and has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Iran/Hezbollah targets in Syria. Israel has vowed to not let Iran and Hezbollah create a permanent presence in Syria. There is growing concern of another war between Hezbollah and Israel that could draw in Iran. Author: Chase Winter



Why is it a hot topic now?

The Syrian civil war has severely weakened the authority of the state, giving Israel an opportunity to exert its claims over the Golan. It also comes as Israel's right-wing government has a friend in the Trump administration, which already recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017 and moved the US Embassy there.

Trump's announcement may give a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of tight April 9 elections and distract attention away from multiple corruption investigations swirling around him.

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