Landmines in the Occupied Syrian Golan: And Israel’s Obligations under International Humans Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law

3 December 2015

Traditionally, landmines have been used in military science as a defensive strategy, aimed at slowing the enemy down or denying armed forces passage through certain terrain. These explosive devices are often concealed or under the ground and are designed to destroy targets that cross them. They can be classified in two main groups; anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines, aimed at persons and tanks respectively, as their names suggest. Sadly however, minefields tend to last longer than the conflicts they are used in, becoming remnants of war, injuring and killing people for many years after the conflict has ended and rendering areas unusable for decades.

This has been the case in the Occupied Syrian Golan. In the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan in 1967, millions of landmines have been placed by Israeli occupying forces, which have since constituted a real and lasting threat to the citizens of the Occupied Syrian Golan

The report is available here:  Landmines in the Occupied Syrian Golan