Israel–Syria Mixed Armistice Commission

A feature of the Israeli-Syrian General Armistice Agreement (GAA) was the provision for the establishment of a special demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the countries.

The DMZ established by the GAA between Israel and Syria was "defined with a view toward separating the armed forces of the two parties in such manner as to minimize the possibility of friction and incident, while providing for the gradual restoration of normal civilian life in the area of the DMZ, without prejudice to the ultimate settlement".

[3] This provision had to be made because of the divergent viewpoints of the two parties during the armistice negotiations as to the sovereignty of the areas within the boundaries of the former Mandatory Palestine, which had been occupied by Syrian troops.

The Israeli-Syrian DMZ comprised 250 square kilometres of land, divided into three areas, to the east and to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee.

Like most of their kibbutzim in troubled areas, it was fortified with trenches with a double-apron of barbed-wire fence from behind which its settlers sallied out to cultivate the surrounding land, digging irrigation canals to channel the water from the Sea of Galilee with such vigour that before long no Arab farmer in the area was allowed into the stretch of land between the kibbutz and the lake.

[7] This Syrian attitude appeared to the Chairman of the MAC to be partly motivated by the disparity of economic conditions under which the returning Arab and Israeli civilians live.

The returning Israeli settlers were well equipped with building materials, machinery, and agricultural implements and were therefore, in a position to speedily establish permanent settlements that Syria considered of potential military value.

On the other hand, returning Arab refugees often arrived completely destitute in their former villages, most of which have been leveled by Israeli forces prior to their withdrawal from the area after the signing of the Israeli-Syrian Armistice Agreement.

However, the Chairman of the ISMAC and the Chief of Staff UNTSO had no means at their disposal to assist the rehabilitation of Arab refugees returning to their homes nor were they in a position officially to enlist the co-operation of any of the other United Nations agencies in the area that might conceivably be concerned with this problem.

[7] As to the third point, the ISMAC, with the co-operation of both parties, had by 12 February 1950 completed the removal of military installations, mines and fortifications from the demilitarized zones as specified in the GAA.

[7] The DMZ was split into three zones: northern, central and southern:[10] With the exception of Al-Hamma (c.423 acres), which was under Syrian control, all three sectors were administered by Israel.

[11] On 20 June 1951 Israel informed the UNTSO that it would no longer attend meetings of the Syrian/Israeli MAC as long as complaints involving the DMZs were on the agenda.

From July 1954 to January 1955 at least, 15 such matters, regarding civilian as well as military questions of the zone, had been brought by the MAC Chairman before the Israel authorities.

This aide-memoire also refers to the note verbale of the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Chief of Staff dated 17 June 1954 [S/3230].

"[14] May 1951, Syrian military forces crossed into Israel at a point where the Jordan River meets the Sea of Galilee and occupied a hill.

[citation needed] September 1953 Israel advanced plans to divert water to help irrigate the coastal Sharon Plain and eventually the Negev desert and launched a diversion project on a 14-kilometre (9 mi) channel midway between the Huleh Marshes and the Sea of Galilee in the central DMZ to be rapidly constructed.

[12] Israeli kibbutzniks from Tel Katzir had been conducting illegal work[citation needed] using tractors on lands belonging to the civilian Arab population of the southern DMZ (Tawafiq)[citation needed] when on 5 December 1954 in the southern DMZ, the Syrians alleged that a group of 8 armed regular Israel police had fired on two civilians from Tawafiq.

[27] 11 December 1955, under the command of Ariel Sharon, Israel sent two paratroop battalions backed by artillery and mortar batteries and attacked Syrian gun emplacements at Buteiha Farm and the village of Kursi (El Koursi) outside the DMZ, on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.