Hader (also spelt Hadar; ) is a village in southern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Khan Arnabah Khan Arnabah also spelt Khan Arnabeh is a town in southwestern Syria, administratively part of the Quneitra Governorate (Golan Heights), in the portion of the province under Israeli control. The town is located just outside the United Nations Di ...

Subdistrict of the

Quneitra Governorate Quneitra Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in southern Syria, notable for the location of the Golan Heights. The governorate borders the countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, and the Syrian ...

. It is in the portion of the governorate that is under de jure Syrian control. The village has been occupied by

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. The town is located just outside the

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force 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 Unite ...

Zone. Nearby localities include

Beit Jinn Beit Jinn (), also known as Bayt Jin, Beit Jann or Beyt Jene, is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located southwest of Damascus on the foothills of Mount Hermon. According to the Syria Central Bu ...

to the northeast,

Harfa Harfa () is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Harfa had a population of 2,362 at the 2004 census.

to the east, Jubata al-Khashab to the south,

Majdal Shams Majdal Shams (; ) is a predominantly Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, located in the southern foothills of Mount Hermon. It is known as the informal "capital" of the region. Majdal Shams played a significant role in the Great ...

in the Israeli-occupied

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 ...

to the west and Shebaa in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

to the northwest.

Population

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Hader had a population of 4,819 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Quneitra Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly from the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

community.

History

The presence of the

around

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

is documented since the founding of the Druze religion in the beginning of the 11th century. In the 1895–1896 conflict between the Druze of

Hauran The Hauran (; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, to the northeast by the al-Safa field, to the east and south by the Harrat ...

and the

Ottoman government The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were ...

and their local allies, Hader and nearby Hina were assaulted by Circassians and

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

fighters from the Golan allied with the Ottomans. This followed a Druze attack which devastated 12 villages in the Hauran plain near

al-Shaykh Maskin Al-Shaykh Maskin (), also spelled Sheikh Maskīn, Sheikh Miskeen, is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located north of Daraa. Nearby localities include Ibta' and Da'el to the south, Khirbet al-Ghazaleh t ...

. Following the attack on Hader, Druze fighters from

retaliated by attacking the Circassian-inhabited village of Mansura, which in turn led to Ottoman and Circassian raids against the Druze villages in the Golan. In mid-June 2015, during the Quneitra offensive of the Syrian Civil War, rebel forces reportedly surrounded the village, which was pro-

Assad Asad (), sometimes written as Assad, is an Arabic male given name literally meaning "lion". It is used in nicknames such as ''Asad Allāh'', one of the by-names for Ali ibn Abi Talib. People Among prominent people named "Asad" or "Assad" a ...

. However, their motives are disputed. Even though the surrounding localities were under rebel control, the town remained under government control for the entire duration of the civil war. On 13 March 2019,

accused senior Lebanese

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

operative

Ali Musa Daqduq Ali Musa Daqduq (; died 10 November 2024) was a senior Hezbollah leader and senior advisor to Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali. He played an instrumental role in establishing Iraq’s Iran-backed Shia militias following the toppling of ...

of having been sent to Syria and founding a network of "a few" Syrian operatives manning outposts in Hader and collecting intelligence against Israeli targets. In December 2024, amid the collapse of

Ba'athist Syria Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the One-party state, one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath Party (Syri ...

and an Israeli invasion, during a recorded community meeting, residents of Hader called for the town to be annexed by Israel, arguing that this would be the "lesser evil" compared to the new Syrian government. The village has been occupied by

since

. In May 2025, the IDF established a forward medical facility in Hader, treating more than 500 Syrian civilians from the surrounding area.

References

Bibliography

* {{Quneitra Governorate Druze communities in Syria Towns in Quneitra Governorate

Population

History

See also

References

Bibliography