Bashan salient

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The Bashan Salient (Hebrew: המובלעת הסורית, romanized: Ha-Muvla'at Ha-Surit, lit.

By October 11, 1973, the sixth day of the Yom Kippur War, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) contained the Syrian offensive in the Golan Heights and began a counteroffensive.

An expeditionary force of the Iraqi army, which had arrived at the front a day earlier, opened a counteroffensive against two Israeli divisions in Syrian territory.

The Syrians, refusing to accept the presence of Israeli military forces in their territory, continued to harass the IDF during early 1974, with almost daily attacks.

The fighting took place alongside armistice negotiations, which started in February 1974 with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger serving as a go-between.

An armistice agreement was finally signed on May 31, 1974, with the Israelis evacuating the Salient shortly after and UN peacekeeping forces (UNDOF) taking a position on a thin strip of land between the opposing sides.

This agreement is still in place today but only on a theoretical basis, since as of December 2024 the Assad regime been overthrown in Syria, and the Israeli army has taken full control of the UNDOF demilitarized zone.