Illegal settlements
Last update: 24 .02 2022
Prior to the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Syrian population of the Syrian Golan was approx. 138,000. Almost all of them were forcibly transferred or displaced from their homes during and after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, forced to relocate to refugee camps around Damascus and whose numbers today are approaching half a million. Following Israel’s conquest, the city of Quneitra and 341 villages and farms were destroyed. Only six villages with a total population of 6,000 remained (one of which was destroyed in 1970 and its population transferred to the occupied Masada neighboring village). Israeli began to establish settlements in the Occupied Syrian Golan within a month of the 1967 war. Today (2021), there are approximately 29,000 settlers, living in 35 Illegal settlements, profiting from the Occupied Syrian Golan’s abundant natural resources.
After emptying the Golan of its indigenous Syrian inhabitants, and destroying its demographic and urban identity, the occupying state immediately began establishing settlements for Jewish settlers. To date, Israel has established 35 settlements, spread along the Golan from north to south, and inhabited by approximately 29,000 settlers. In October 2021, the occupation government announced, at its meeting in Khesfin settlement, its plan until 2026 to double the number of settlers in the Golan, by building 7,000 new housing units in the settlements, including 3,000 housing units in Katzrin settlement and 4,000 units in the rest of the settlements. In addition, the Israeli government approved a project to establish two new settlements in the southern Golan.
The Occupied Syrian Golan is a rich volcanic plateau with extremely fertile soil. The region is home to a huge variety of valuable natural resources, making it an ideal location for settlements and settlement industries. Since the occupation began, the Israeli authorities have aimed to implement policies controlling the valuable resources in the region, in particular, the land and the water. In recent times, this has manifested itself through Israel’s encouragement of the establishment of industries and businesses in the region, which exploit these natural resources for commercial gain. In order to attract more settlers each year, the Israeli authorities are building new infrastructure and factories and creating various other economic opportunities.
The construction of the settlements was accompanied by the control over the sources of natural resources in the Golan, the most important of which is water. Over the years, the occupation authorities built 16 water reservoirs, with a capacity of 45 million m3, to cover the needs of the agricultural sector of the settlements which rely primarily on agriculture for their economy, cow breeding, and tourism. As for Katzrin, the biggest settlement, it considers the administrative center of the settlements and a center for companies operating in the Golan.
For more information, please see Al-Marsad publication:
- Map -Syrian residential communities destroyed by Israel after occupying the Golan in 1967.
– From Settlement to Shelf: The Economic Occupation of the Syrian Golan.
Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan-Heights
Name | Population
(July 2021)
| Founded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Avne Etan | 850 | 1974 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of El-Άal. |
Odem | 191 | 1975 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Άarab Al-Hish. At first, the settlers lived in a Syrian camp in Tel al-Ahmar, and in 1981, after the construction of the settlement was completed, the settlers moved there. |
Ortal | 378 | 1978 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Al-Dalwa. |
Allone Habashan | 441 | 1981 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Jweza. |
Eli-Ad | 501 | 1973 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of El Άal. In 1968, it was first constructed as a military settlement "Nahal", called El Άal. In 1973, the construction of the civilian settlement was completed and they called it Eli- Άad. |
El-Rom | 512 | 1971 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Άuyῡn Al-Ḥajal. First, they Called it Άin-Ḥuwar. |
Ani’am | 557 | 1978 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Al-Άamudiya. |
Afiq | 393 | 1972 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Fīq. It was first constructed in December 1968 by a group of Naḥal-Soldiers, they named it “Naḥal-Golan. Later in 1972, it became a civilian settlement and got the name Afīq. |
Bene Yehuda | 1,305 | 1972 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Skufiya. |
Giv’at Yo’av
| 749 | 1968 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Skufiya. The settlers group first lived in the military camp Arái in Qῡnaytra. In 1972, they permanently resided here and called it Giváat Yoav. |
Geshur
| 331 | 1976 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Άidesa. It was first constructed as a military settlement "Nahal" in 1968 and called “Naḥal Geshur”. In 1976, it became a civilian settlement and was named Geshur. |
Had-Nes
| 935 | 1989 | |
Haspin
| 1,535 | 1977 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed villages of Al-Ṡuffera and Sahim Al-Mukh. |
Yonatan
| 770 | 1978 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Al-Tanῡriya. The first settlers arrived in 1975 to the settlement of "Marom Golan", and tried to settle near Tal Youssef and Tal Abu Khanzīr, but the military authority rejected the project. In 1976, the settlers moved to Tal-Faraj (Khirbet Faraj) for temporary housing, and in 1978 they moved to the current site. |
Kanaf
| 498 | 1991 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Kanaf. In 1985, the first settlers lived in "Eli-Άad" settlement and began establishing the settlement of Kanaf. In 1991 they moved to the current site. |
Kefar Haruv
| 581 | 1973 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Kafar Ḥarib. In 1973, a group of settlers began building the settlement. During the construction period, they lived in the Afik military camp. In 1974, after the construction work was completed, they moved to the settlement. |
Mevo Hamma
| 599 | 1968 | It was built on a former Syrian army camp, called "Άamrit Άiz al-Din". |
Mezar
| 246 | 1981 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Rujum Al-Yaqῡṡa. It started in 1981 as a "Nahal" settlement, and after that it was converted into a civilian settlement. It was dismantled then renovated in 1991 and turned into a kibbutz. |
Ma’ale Gamla
| 626 | 1979 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Khῡkha. In 1975, the settlers lived in temporary housing near the current settlement site. In 1979, they finished building the settlement and moved to the current site. |
Merom Golan
| 838 | 1968 | A month after the end of the war, a group of settlers moved to live in a Syrian army camp in the village of Al-Άulayqa, and worked in collecting livestock (cows and sheep (of the displaced Syrian population. In the beginning of 1968, they moved to live in the houses of the city of Quneitra, and in the military Camp Arái in Qῡnaytra, from there they started building the settlement in its current location and moved there in 1972. |
Ne’ot Golan
| 696 | 1973 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Fiq. In 1968, the settlers lived at the entrance to Fiq. In 1972, they moved to the current location. |
Nov
| 1,018 | 1972 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed villages of Nab, and Rusum al-Rabaḥ. |
Neve Ativ
| 222 | 1972 | It was built on the site of the destroyed village of Gubbatha Al-Zeit. |
Natur
| 558 | 1978 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Majdῡliya. The construction of the settlement began in 1978. In 1980 the settlement was completed, and the settlers moved in. |
Namrud
| 22 | 1982 | It was built on the lands of Majdal Shams and Masáada, by a group of young soldiers, and was called "Nahel Nimrud". In 1999 it turned into a civilian settlement and got the name “Namrud”. |
Ein Zivan
| 475 | 1968 | |
Qidmat Zevi
| 618 | 1985 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed villages of Naáran and Άin Al-Sumsum. In 1981, a group of settlers settled in the settlement of Kelaá. In 1985, they moved to the current location. |
Qela’ Alon
| 366 | 1984 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Al-Qunaába, by a group of soldiers (Nahal). In 1984, it was transformed into a kibbutz. In 1989 the kibbutz was dismantled, and returned to the management of the Nahal (Soldiers Group). In 1991, it was inhabited by Jewish immigrants, and its name was "Brῡchim". In June 2000, the settlement's map was approved, and it was named "Kelaá -Alon". |
keshet
| 831 | 1974 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Al-Khushniya. The first settlers arrived in 1974, and lived in a former Syrian military camp in Al-Khushniya. In 1978, they moved to the current location. |
Ramot
| 654 | 1973 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Kafar- Άaqab. In 1969, a nucleus of settlers arrived in the village of Skῡfiya, and after four years (1973) they moved to the current location. |
Ramat Magshimim
| 811 | 1968 | The settlers first lived in the abandoned homes of the Syrian village of Fiq. Few months later, they moved to a former camp for the Syrian army. In the summer 1972, they moved to the current location. |
Ramat Trump | 20 | 2020 | It was built on the territory of the destroyed village of Al-Qunaába. In November 2020, the first prefabricated homes were laid for settlers, and today live there 20 families. |
(1)
Senir
| 663 | 1967 | The settlement is located within the demilitarized zone of 1949. In September of 1967, a group of young soldiers set up the Nahal outpost at the site, and in October 1968, it was transformed into a civilian settlement (kibbutz). |
Sha’al
| 362 | 1980 | It was built on the lands of the destroyed village of Qarhata. Initially in 1976, the first settlers settled near Gamla, and in 1980, they moved to the settlement in its present location. |
kazrin
| 8,751 | 1977 | A small city (the capital of the settlements), it was established on the lands of the destroyed villages Qaṡrin, Shuqaif, and Al-Manshiya. |
Total | 29,058 |
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