Residents of a Syrian village near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights say Israeli forces have set up a position in an abandoned army base and are preventing local farmers from accessing their fields.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday extended a long-running peacekeeping mission between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for six months and expressed concern that military activities in the area could escalate tensions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will double the Israeli population of the Golan Heights following the fall of Syria's Bashar Al-Assad. The Israeli government approved the plan Sunday.

People walk past a sign in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, located near the “Alpha Line” that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) People attend a rally celebrating the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government,

The Israeli government decided on Sunday to double its population on the occupied Golan Heights while saying threats from Syria remained despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel's "demographic development" plan to increase settler numbers only applies to the area of the Golan Heights that Israel seized during the Six Day War in 1967 and later annexed in 1981 and not to territory taken since al-Assad's ouster.

Israel announced plans to double its population in the occupied Golan Heights, earning international condemnation.

Does Israel's seizure of Syrian territory serve temporary security goals? Or is it a permanent land grab that might thwart future friendly ties with Syria's new rulers and diplomatic relations with other Arab countries?