Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab–Israeli conflict demolished shortly after May 15, 1968. The demolitions were carried out by contractors hired for the job. After the demolitions, the lands were given to Israeli settlers. There was an effort to preserve buildings of archaeological significance and buildings useful for the planned Jewish settlements. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, parts of the occupied Golan Heights were returned to Syrian control, including Quneitra, which had changed hands several times during the war. According to a United Nations Special Committee, Israeli forces had deliberately destroyed the city before their 1974 withdrawal. Alphabetical list; all parts of the name are treated
Arab League and the Arab–Israeli conflict Committee. On Friday, 14 May 1948, a day before the British Mandate over Palestine expired (the next day being Shabbat), the Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved a "proclamation" declaring the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. The next day the seven Arab League members, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, coordinated a march with their forces into what the previous day had been the area of the British Mandate, marking the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In the introduction to