The Paulet–Newcombe Agreement or Paulet-Newcombe Line, was a 1923 agreement between the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and French governments regarding the position and nature of the boundary between the Mandates of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, attributed to Great Britain, and the Mandate of Syria and Lebanon, attributed to France. The 1923 line defined the border of

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

from the Mediterranean up to Al-Hamma, Tiberias. The 1920 line defined, in less detail, the border of the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon from the Mediterranean up to Jeziret-ibn-Omar. The Agreement takes its name from the two Lieutenant colonels who were in charge of precisely mapping the border lines and drafting the Agreement, i.e. French Lieutenant colonel N. Paulet and British Lieutenant colonel S. F. Newcombe. Together with a preliminary 1920 agreement, these are known as the Franco-British Boundary Agreements. The Iraq-Syria border was subsequently finalized in 1932 following a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

commission review. Today's Iraq–Syria border, Jordan–Syria border and Israel-Lebanon border, apart from the areas disputed as a result of Israel's conflicts with Lebanon and Syria, are defined by these agreements.

Sykes Picot and the Franco-Syrian War

The line separating the British and French spheres of interest in the area was first defined in the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement. Britain's military occupied the region during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and in 1920, French Army invaded the Arab Kingdom of Syria. After resisting the occupation for several months, Arabs capitulated in July 1920. On 8 August 1920, during the Transjordan interregnum period, the French confirmed to the British that they would respect the Sykes-Picot line, and not move any military forces south.

December 1920 agreement

The boundary between the forthcoming

and French mandates was first defined in broad terms in the 1920 "Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia", signed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by the British Ambassador to France, Charles Hardinge and the French Foreign Minister, Georges Leygues, on 23 December 1920.Text available in ''American Journal of International Law'', Vol. 16, No. 3, 1922, 122–126.Text available in That agreement placed the bulk of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

in the French sphere. The treaty also established a joint commission to settle the precise details of the border and mark it on the ground. The 1932 commission concluded that the 1920 agreement had been reached on the basis of the “British International 1:1,000,000 map published in 1916 and revised in 1918”, formally known as the ''Asia 1: 1,000,000. Projection of the International Map compiled at the Royal Geographical Society under the direction of the Geographical Section, General Staff. Drawn and printed at the War Office, 1916,'' today known as "GSGS 2555".

March 1923 agreement

The commission submitted its final report on 3 February 1922, which included a number of amendments. The amendments included: * North East boundary moved westward (reducing the area of Palestine) to avoid splitting the lands of Emir Mahmud El-Fa’ur of Quneitra * Northern boundary moved northward (increasing the area of Palestine) to include the entire Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk valley It was approved with some caveats by the French and British governments on 7 March 1923, several months before Britain and France assumed their Mandatory responsibilities on 29 September 1923.Agreement between His Majesty's Government and the French Government respecting the Boundary Line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hámmé. Paris, March 7, 1923.
Treaty Series No. 13 (1923), Cmd. 1910. Also Louis, 1969, p. 90.FSU Law
. The agreements fixed the line of the Syrian-Palestinian border (now the Syrian-Israeli border) between the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and the town of Al-Hamma. The 1923 agreement takes its name from French Lieutenant Colonel N. Paulet and British Lieutenant Colonel S. F. Newcombe, who was appointed to lead the Boundary Commission.

1932 Iraq-Syria border commission

The League of Nations appointed a commission to review the Iraq-Syria border, ahead of the October 1932 accession of Iraq to the League of Nations.League of Nations
Report of the Commission entrusted by the Council with the Study of the Frontier between Syria and Iraq
C. 578. M. 285. 1932. VI, Geneva, September 10th, 1932 The commission carried out a detailed review of the 1920 agreement.

Gallery

Paulet–Newcombe Agreement Sheet I.jpg Paulet–Newcombe Agreement Sheet II.jpg Paulet–Newcombe Agreement Sheet III.jpg

References

Bibliography

* * John J. McTague Jr. (1982)
Anglo-French Negotiations over the Boundaries of Palestine, 1919–1920
Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2. (Winter), pp. 100–12. * Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed Dec. 23, 1920. Text available in
American Journal of International Law
', Vol. 16, No. 3, Supplement, 1922, pp. 122–6. * Agreement between His Majesty's Government and the French Government respecting the Boundary Line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hámmé, Treaty Series No. 13 (1923), Cmd. 1910. * Gideon Biger (1989), Geographical and other arguments in delimitation in the boundaries of British Palestine, in "International Boundaries and Boundary Conflict Resolution", IBRU Conference, , pp. 41–61. * Yitzhak Gil-Har (1993), British commitments to the Arabs and their application to the Palestine-Trans-Jordan boundary: The issue of the Semakh triangle, ''Middle Eastern Studies'', Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 690–701. * Muhsin Yusuf (1991), The Zionists and the process of defining the borders of Palestine, 1915–1923, ''Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies'', Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 18–39. * Gideon Biger (1995), ''The encyclopedia of international boundaries'', New York: Facts on File. * Gideon Biger (2005), ''The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840-1947''. London: Routledge. . * US Department of State, International Boundary Study series:
Iraq-JordanIraq-SyriaJordan-SyriaIsrael-Lebanon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulet-Newcombe Agreement 1923 in the United Kingdom Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) France–United Kingdom treaties Borders of Israel Borders of Lebanon Borders of Syria 1923 in Iraq 1923 in Mandatory Syria 1920s in Lebanon 1923 in Mandatory Palestine Boundary treaties Interwar-period treaties Treaties concluded in 1923 Treaties of the French Third Republic Treaties extended to Mandatory Palestine Treaties extended to Mandatory Iraq Treaties extended to the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon Israel–Lebanon border