Secretary of State Antony Blinken says U.S. officials have made direct contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. HTS’s leader condemned Israel’s incursion into Syria.

More than four decades later, the entire international community - bar the US and Israel - considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory under Israeli occupation. In 2019, the US recognised the Golan Heights as Israeli sovereign territory during Donald Trump’s first term – becoming the only state to do so.

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.