The 1974 Israel-Syria Disengagement Agreement ended active Yom Kippur War hostilities and established a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights.
Key Facts
- Signing Date
- May 31, 1974
- UN Role
- UN Peacekeeping Force to separate opposing parties
- Referenced Resolution
- UN Security Council Resolution 338, October 22, 1973
- Agreement Status
- Explicitly not a peace agreement
- 50-Year Consequence
- Israel declared agreement void after fall of Assad regime in 2024
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The October 1973 Yom Kippur War left Israeli and Syrian forces in contested positions along the Golan Heights front. A ceasefire was already nominally in effect under UN Security Council Resolution 338, but no formal separation of forces had been arranged, leaving the situation unstable and requiring a structured disengagement framework.
On May 31, 1974, Israel and Syria signed the Agreement on Disengagement, formalizing the continuation of the existing ceasefire and establishing a UN Peacekeeping Force to physically separate the two sides. The agreement explicitly acknowledged it was not a peace treaty but a step toward a just and durable peace under Resolution 338.
The agreement created a UN-monitored buffer zone in the Golan Heights that held for fifty years. In 2024, following the collapse of the Assad regime, Israel declared the agreement void and launched a military incursion into Syria. The new Syrian government under Ahmed al-Sharaa subsequently reaffirmed commitment to the agreement and entered negotiations for a revised security arrangement.
Political Outcome
Ceasefire formalized and UN Peacekeeping Force established to separate Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights; agreement held for fifty years until 2024.
Active ceasefire without formal force separation following the 1973 Yom Kippur War
UN-monitored buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights