The Agreement on Disengagement ( he, הסכם הפרדת הכוחות בין ישראל לסוריה, ar, اتفاقية فك الاشتباك) is an agreement between

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

that was signed on May 31, 1974, which officially ended the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

and the subsequent attrition period on the Syrian front.

Background

As soon as the

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state ac ...

came into place at the end of the Yom Kippur War, a time when Israel had control over the entire territory of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

, including the area Syria had controlled before the war and which Israel had conquered during the war. The

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

was in front of northern Golan, with a width of and a total area of . The area consisted of many small Syrian villages as well as

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

and the top of Hermon mountain. The enclave was at a distance of from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. Even though the temporary ceasefire was made official, both sides kept exchanging fire, bringing the situation into attrition. It continued throughout the negotiation process, and became more intense every time it was interrupted. Negotiations were repeatedly initiated by the

United Nations Security Council Resolution 339 United Nations Security Council Resolution 339 was adopted on 23 October 1973 in order to bring a ceasefire in the Yom Kippur War where Resolution 338 two days before had failed. The resolution primarily reaffirmed the terms outlined in Resolu ...

, however from its very beginning there were multiple disputes over its procedures that prevented the resolution from being successful. The attrition grew even more as the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Egypt was finally signed in January 1974. Israel demanded that a list of its captives held in Syria be released as a condition for re-opening the negotiations, and asked that they be allowed to receive medical treatment from the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

if needed. Syria denied the request, demanding territorial compensation in exchange.

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

, came for a short shuttling journey between

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and Damascus in February 1974 (he later admitted in his books that he had decided to mediate due to pressure from the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

and ruler of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

, who had deep interests in finishing the Yom Kippur War and the oil crisis that was going on). On February 27, Kissinger returned from Damascus with a list of prisoners, following a promise given to the Syrians that

Quneitra Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; ar, ٱلْقُنَيْطِرَة or ٱلْقُنَيطْرَة, ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in sout ...

will be given back to them, and then began formal negotiations.

Attrition warfare Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and materiel. The word ''attrition'' comes from the Latin root ...

greatly increased in the coming months, and between March and May there were over a thousand different incidents, including heavy bombings on cities in the Golan as well as constant fire at

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF) forces, and battles over the control of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

. Throughout this period, fears that the battles will become a full-scale war delayed the release of reserve units in months. Syrians demanded Israeli withdrawal from large territories in the Golan which they had lost. Eventually Israel agreed to withdraw from all the territories occupied during the war, consisting of approximately on the Israeli side of the Purple Line (1967 armistice line). In exchange, a 235 square kilometer (146 sq mi) UNDOF buffer zone was formed on the Syrian side of that line. According to testimonies of the participants in the negotiations, there were bargainings about the smallest detail until the agreement was signed in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

on May 31, 1974 (more than seven months after the ceasefire declaration). The negotiations led to many misunderstandings and indirectly caused the crises of fire incidents, such as when Israel agreed to give back Syria the control over Quneitra, Syria interpreted it as if the area referred to included the

Avital Avital ( he, אֲבִיטַל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located ten kilometers south of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In its population was . History The village was founded in 1953 by immigrants from ...

and Bental mountains, while Israel intended only to the area of the city itself. The negotiations went on with continued U.S. pressure on Israel.

Details and implementation

It was decided in the agreement that the two countries will maintain the ceasefire and immediately return

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

on both sides. Then, it said, Israel will withdraw from all the enclaved areas and the Hermon top it occupied during the war, and a surface of about 25 km² around the city of Quneitra and other small areas occupied during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

. Finally, two separation lines were put into place: Israeli (marked in blue) and Syrian (marked in red),UNDOF BACKGROUND - map with red and blue lines on this page
/ref> including a 235 km² UNDOF

buffer zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demili ...

on the Syrian side. The agreement stated that the Syrian civilians forced to leave their homes in the buffer zone will be able to return to them, as it pledged fight

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

activities in the Golan Heights. These two undertakings were given as an oral commitment to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Following the agreement was the establishment of the

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The mission was established by United ...

(UNDOF), which appointed 1,043 soldiers to oversee the buffer zone. Prisoners were returned immediately after the signing of the agreement (June 1–6, 1974), and Israel withdrew from Mount Hermon and the enclave areas. The new separation line was completed on June 26, 1974. Unlike what many had expected, the agreement on disengagement between Israel and Syria not only lasted for more than 45 years, but has been in place from the moment it was signed until today. This makes it the longest successful agreement Israel has ever had with an

Arab country The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...

Background

Details and implementation

See also