Trump's Golan announ­cement likely to compli­cate long-awaite­d plan to resolv­e the Israel­i-Palest­inian confli­ctUS President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States should back Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967. The Golan Heights were part of Syria until 1967, when Israel captured most of the area in the Six Day War, occupying it and annexing it in 1981. Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974 and the Golan had been relatively quiet since. In 2000, Israel and Syria held their highest-level talks over a possible return of the Golan and a peace agreement. After annexing the Golan, Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship, but most rejected it and still identify as Syrian.

Source: The Express Tribune March 22, 2019 06:56 UTC