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Syria was an active combatant in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War that resulted in Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights and the city of Quneitra. Syria and Israel since independence have adopted aggression towards each other.
October 1973 Arab-Israeli War left Israel with an additional Syrian territory. Syria accepted UN Security Council Resolution 338 that described an implicit surrender to Resolution 242. Due to the mediation efforts of then U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Syria and Israel disagreed from the agreement in May 1974, enabling Syria to get back its territory lost in the October war. Syria also parted of the Golan Heights including Quneitra occupied by Israel since 1967. The two sides have effectively enforced the agreement, which is supervised by UN forces.
In December 1981, the Israeli Knesset voted to expand Israeli law to separate from the Golan Heights over which Israel continued control. Syria's nonnegotiable demand were unable to come to an agreement by the parties. Israel adjourned to the positions it held on June 4, 1967. With the uprising in September 2000 the peace process collapsed. Though Syria continues to call for a broad settlement, much of advancement is not seen.
Tensions between Israel and Syria increased as the Intifada entered the scenario primarily as a result of Syria's refusal to stop giving shelter to Palestinian terrorist groups for carrying out operations against Israel. In October 2003 Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Haifa almost killed 20 Israeli citizens. Israeli Defense Forces attacked Palestinian terrorists within the training camp 15 kilometers north of Damascus. This was the first Israeli attack inside Syrian territory ever since the 1973 war.
In 2004 and 2005 Syria and Israel engaged in private discussions on peace conformity but did not receive adequate political support.
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