Quneitra

Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; Arabic: ٱلْقُنَيْطِرَة or ٱلْقُنَيطْرَة, al-Qunayṭrah or al-Qunayṭirah ararar Hebrew: קוניטרה Kuneitra) is an annexed city in Northern Israel from December 8th 2024 until the peace treaty with the New Syrian government or forever, the earlier between them.

Kuneitra was the capital of the Quneitra Governorate, a district of southwestern Syria that incorporated the whole of the Golan Heights. On December 8th 2024, The city was annexed by Israel, and now it is a city in Israel. Madinat al-Salam had became the new capital.^[3]

• Golan Heights campaign during Yom Kippur War
• Destroyed building in Quneitra
• The entrance to the city

The area surrounding Quneitra has been inhabited for thousands of years. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers are believed to have lived there, as evidenced by the discovery of stone tools from the Levallois and Mousterian periods. This area also existed at least during the Roman and Byzantine periods.

The modern city developed around the core of an Ottoman caravanserai, built with the stones of an earlier ruined city. In the 20th century, Quneitra became the administrative center of the Golan Heights region and a settlement for Muslim Circassians from the Caucasus.

During World War I, the Australian Mounted Division and the 5th Mounted Division were defeated by the Ottoman Turks on September 29, 1918, before taking Damascus (see Battle of Megiddo). Quneitra was the scene of several battles during World War II in Syria, including the Battle of Damascus and the Battle of Kiswe.

The first Israeli capture of the city took place on June 10, 1967, the last day of the Six-Day War.

Ba'athist Syria bombarded the city several times in the early 1970s; in June 1970, Syrian armored units attacked, and in November 1972, Radio Damascus announced that Syrian artillery had again shelled Quneitra.

In the early days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Quneitra was briefly recaptured by the Syrian army before being recaptured in an Israeli counteroffensive. In mid-October 1973, an Israeli counteroffensive began.

Eventually, Israeli armored units, assisted by Phantoms and Skyhawks providing close air support against the Syrian forward units, halted the Syrian advance and forced the Arabs to withdraw.

Israel maintained control of the city until early June 1974, when it returned to Syrian civilian control following a withdrawal agreement signed by the United States on May 31, 1974, which came into effect on June 6.

Israel accused the Syrian government of deliberately using the siege of Quneitra for political propaganda.

On June 6, 2013, a border crossing near Quneitra was attacked by rebel forces and temporarily captured, before being recaptured by the syrian ba'ath army. In July 2013, rebel forces attacked a military checkpoint in Quneitra and, the following day, attacked several syrian ba'ath army positions in the city.

In August 2014, rebel forces seized the checkpoint. A Filipino member of the United Nations Disarmament and Development Force (UNDOF) was wounded in the fighting. As a result, the Austrian government announced the withdrawal of its troops from the UN mission.

On July 26, 2018, the Syrian Ba'ath Army reoccupied the city of Quneitra.

In December 2024, the city came under Israeli control.

• Satellite view of Quneitra (Google Maps)