Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria

The Agreement on Disengagement (Hebrew: הסכם הפרדת הכוחות בין ישראל לסוריה‎‎, Arabic: اتفاقية فك الاشتباك‎‎) is an agreement between Israel and Syria that was signed on May 31, 1974, which officially ended the Yom Kippur War and the subsequent attrition period on the Syrian front.

As soon as the ceasefire came into place at the end of the Yom Kippur War, a time when Israel had control over the entire territory of the Golan Heights, including the area Syria had controlled before the war and which Israel had conquered during the war. The enclave was in front of northern Golan, with a width of 20 kilometres (12 mi) and a total area of 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi). The area consisted of many small Syrian villages as well as volcanic cone and the top of Hermon mountain. The enclave was at a distance of 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Damascus.

Even though the temporary ceasefire was made official, both sides kept exchanging fire, bringing the situation into attrition. It continued throughout the negotiation process, and became more intense every time it was interrupted. Negotiations were repeatedly initiated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 339, however from its very beginning there were multiple disputes over its procedures that prevented the resolution from being successful. The attrition grew even more as the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Egypt was finally signed in January 1974.

Israel demanded that a list of its captives held in Syria be released as a condition for re-opening the negotiations, and asked that they be allowed to receive medical treatment from the Red Cross if needed. Syria denied the request, demanding territorial compensation in exchange. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, came for a short shuttling journey between Jerusalem and Damascus in February 1974 (he later admitted in his books that he had decided to mediate due to pressure from the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and ruler of Saudi Arabia, who had deep interests in finishing the Yom Kippur War and the oil crisis that was going on). On February 27, Kissinger returned from Damascus with a list of prisoners, following a promise given to the Syrians that Quneitra will be given back to them, and then began formal negotiations.

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