'}}

Oil and natural gas in the Occupied Syrian Golan, illegal exploitation by Israel as occupying power

December 9, 2013

9 December 2013

During the Israeli-Arab war of 1967, Israel captured 70% of the Syrian Golan and 130.000 of the native inhabitants were forcibly transferred. In 1981 Israel illegally annexed the occupied Golan and since that moment Israel has considered itself as "sovereign" over that territory, although the International Community considered this annexation void and null and has never accepted it.

Nowadays there are five villages inhabited by native Syrian people, all of them are in the north and the number of indigenous Syrian people remaining in the Golan stands at 20000. On the other hand, there are more than 20000 Jewish settlers in the Occupied Syrian Golan, and in order to accommodate those 33 illegal settlements have been built within the region. The Israeli settlements are mainly in the south and the most important and biggest one is Qatzrin.

Approximately only 6% of the occupied territory remains under the indigenous Syrian population control, the rest has been expropriated for military use or for settlements.

According to the Law of Occupation, Israel being the occupying country, has the legal obligation to act as just administrator of public property and natural resources. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2013 Israel's Energy and Water Resources Ministry granted Genie Energy, an American-Israeli company, an exclusive licence to explore for oil and gas in a 153-square miles radius in the southern part of the Golan. This action violates international law and therefore it is illegal.

 

Read the full document:  Position Paper - Oil and natural gas in the occupied Syrian Golan

Releated Posts

'}}
Press release regarding the deterioration of the situation in Syria and attacks on civilians
Al Marsad condemns the attack by the Al Nusra front on June 10 against the Druze community in the village of Qalb Luza in Idlib province which resulted in the deaths of 23 civilians including children, and the wounding and enforced disappearance of many others.
READ MORE
'}}
ACTION ALERT: The International Community Must End Israel’s Collective Punishment of the Civilian Population in the Gaza Strip
As international and criminal law scholars, human rights defenders, legal experts and individuals who firmly believe in the rule of law and in the necessity for its respect in times of peace and more so in times of war, we feel the intellectual and moral duty to denounce the grave violations, mystification and disrespect of the most basic principles of the laws of armed conflict and of the fundamental human rights of the entire Palestinian population committed during the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
READ MORE
'}}
Israeli Agricultural Settlement Expansion in the Occupied Syrian Golan During the Syrian Conflict
In January 2014, the Israeli cabinet approved a proposal to develop 30,000 dunams (7,400 acres) of land in the Occupied Syrian Golan for agricultural use.
READ MORE
'}}
Oil and natural gas in the Occupied Syrian Golan, illegal exploitation by Israel as occupying power
According to the Law of Occupation, Israel being the occupying country, has the legal obligation to act as just administrator of public property and natural resources. Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2013 Israel's Energy and Water Resources Ministry granted Genie Energy, an American-Israeli company, an exclusive licence to explore for oil and gas in a 153-square miles radius in the southern part of the Golan.
READ MORE
'}}
NEW PUBLICATION: EU’s guidelines on labelling of settlements products, situation in the EU and in some States Parties
Since the occupation began, the Israeli authorities have aimed to implement policies which control the valuable resources in the region, in particular the land and the water.
READ MORE