ThePurple Line was theceasefire line betweenIsrael andSyria after the 1967Six-Day War which serves as thede facto border between the two countries. Following thefall of the Assad regime in 2024, Israel broke the Purple Line during itsinvasion of Syria.
Syria gained independence from France in 1946 and on 14 May 1948, theBritish withdrew fromPalestine as Israel declared its independence. Syrian forces participated in the1948 Arab–Israeli War between Arab forces and the newly established State of Israel. In 1949,armistice agreements were signed and a provisional border between Syria and Israel was delineated (based on the 1923 international border; seeSan Remo conference). Syrian and Israeli forces clashed on numerous occasions in the spring of 1951. The hostilities, which stemmed from Syrian opposition to an Israeli drainage project in the demilitarized zone, ceased on 15 May, after intercession by theUnited Nations Security Council.[citation needed]
In June 1967 after battling Syria,Jordan andEgypt in theSix-Day War, Israel captured the entire length of theGolan Heights including its principal cityQuneitra.[1] The resulting ceasefire line (dubbed the "Purple Line" as it was drawn on the UN's maps)[citation needed] was supervised by a series of positions and observation posts staffed by observers of theUnited Nations Truce Supervision Organization[2] and became the new effective border between Israel and Syria.[citation needed]
In a surprise attack consisting of a massivearmored thrust, the Syrians crossed the Purple Line into the Golan Heights during the 1973Yom Kippur War. After several days of very heavy fighting on the Golan they were pushed back deep into Syria and Israel conqueredfurther territory inside Syria beyond the Purple Line by the time aceasefire was reached. In thedisengagements negotiations after the war,Israel andSyria agreed on 31 May 1974, to pull back their respective forces on theGolan Heights to the Purple Line. On the same day, aUnited Nationsbuffer zone was set up and theUnited Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone (UNDOF) was established by the United Nations after the adoption ofUN Security CouncilResolution 350.[3][4]
On 8 December 2024, Israel invaded thebuffer zone in southwestern Syria adjacent to theIsraeli-occupied Golan Heights, and carried out an aerial campaign targeting theSyrian Army's military capabilities, following thefall of the Assad regime.
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