View source for Quneitra

{{About|a city in Syria|the city in Morocco|Kenitra|the city in Egypt|El-Qantarah el-Sharqiyya|the municipality in Lebanon|Al-Qunaitra}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
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<!-- Basic info  ---------------->| name               = Quneitra  <!-- at least one of the first two fields must be filled in -->
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| image_skyline      = Qunaitra.jpg
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| image_caption      = View of the destroyed city
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| pushpin_map        = Syria#Syria Golan
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| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Quneitra within Syria##Location of Quneitra within Golan Heights, Syria
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| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   =  {{flag|Syria}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Governorates of Syria|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Quneitra Governorate|Quneitra]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Districts of Syria|District]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Quneitra District|Quneitra]]
| subdivision_type3  = [[Nahiya|Subdistrict]]
| subdivision_name3  = Quneitra
| subdivision_type4  = Region
| subdivision_name4  = [[Golan Heights]]<br>[[UNDOF Zone]]
| subdivision_type5  = Control
| subdivision_name5  = [[Israel]]
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| established_title  = Settled
| established_date   = around 1000 CE
| established_title1 = Resettled
| established_date1  = 1873
| established_title2 = Destroyed
| established_date2  = 1974
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| area_blank1_sq_mi  = <!-- Elevation -------------------------->
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| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_ft       = 3,313
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| elevation_min_ft   = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
| population_as_of   = 2004 census<ref name=CBS>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB14-1-2004.htm|title=General Census of Population and Housing 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122165907/http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB14-1-2004.htm|archive-date=2013-01-22|url-status=dead|website=[[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Syria Central Bureau of Statistics]]|language=ar}}</ref>
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| population_total   = 153
| population_density_km2 = <!--For automatic calculation, any density field may contain: auto -->
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| population_metro   = 4,318
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| population_demonym = {{langx|ar|قنيطراوي|links=no}}, ''Qunayṭrawi'' or ''Qunayṭirawi''
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| population_density_blank1_sq_mi = <!-- General information  --------------->
| timezone           = [[Arabia Standard Time|AST]]
| utc_offset         = +3
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| coordinates        = {{coord|33|07|N|35|49|E|region:SY|display=inline}}
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| area_code          = 43
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| website            = [https://archive.today/20070113202043/http://www.equnaytra.sy/ eQunaytra]
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}}
 
'''Quneitra''' (also '''Al Qunaytirah''', '''Qunaitira''', or '''Kuneitra'''; {{langx|ar|ٱلْقُنَيْطِرَة or ٱلْقُنَيطْرَة}}, ''al-Qunayṭrah'' or ''al-Qunayṭirah'' {{IPA|ar|æl qʊˈneɪ̯tˁ(ɨ)rɑ|pron}}) is the largely destroyed and abandoned [[Capital (political)|capital]] of the [[Quneitra Governorate]] in south-western [[Syria]]. It is situated in a high valley in the [[Golan Heights]] at 1,010&nbsp;metres (3,313&nbsp;feet)<ref name="bromiley"/> above sea level. Since 1974, pursuant to [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 350]] and the [[Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria|Agreement on Disengagement]] between [[Israel]] and Syria, the city is inside the [[United Nations|UN]]-patrolled [[United Nations Disengagement Observer Force|buffer zone]].

Quneitra was founded in the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman era]] as a way station on the caravan route to [[Damascus]] and subsequently became a garrison town of some 20,000 people. In 1946, it became part of the independent Syrian Republic within the Riff Dimashq Governorate and in 1964 became the capital of the split Quneitra Governorate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statoids.com/usy.html|title=Syria Provinces|website=www.statoids.com|access-date=2016-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718003658/http://www.statoids.com/usy.html|archive-date=2017-07-18|url-status=live}}</ref> On 10 June 1967, the last day of the [[Six-Day War]], Quneitra came under Israeli control.<ref>On 10 June, Israeli authorities utilized a [[postmark]], in Arabic, English and Hebrew, for mail sent from Quneitra. Livni, Israel. ''Encyclopedia of Israel Stamps.'' Tel Aviv: Sifriyat Ma'arit, 1969. p.195</ref> It was briefly recaptured by Syria during the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], but Israel regained control in its subsequent counter-offensive. The city was almost completely destroyed by Israel before it withdrew in June 1974. Syria later refused to rebuild the city and actively discouraged resettlement in the area. Israel was heavily criticized by the [[United Nations]] for the city's destruction,<ref name="ungar3240">"[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3b00f1c74.html Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103082535/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5B1BC7E46C040DF7852560DE0054E654 |date=2011-01-03 }}", United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3240, 29 November 1974, A/RES/3240, [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/5B1BC7E46C040DF7852560DE0054E654 unispal]  .</ref> while Israel has also criticized Syria for not rebuilding Quneitra.<ref>Abraham Rabinovich. ''The Yom Kippur War'', 492. Knopf Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8052-1124-1}}</ref>

In 2004, its population was estimated at 153 persons, with some 4,000 more living in the surrounding areas of the former city.

During the [[Syrian Civil War]], Quneitra became a clash point between rebel forces and Syrian Arab Army. Between 2014 and July 2018,<ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian rebels break uneasy peace in Golan Heights - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/syria-golan-rebels-attack-control-quneitra.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025154857/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/syria-golan-rebels-attack-control-quneitra.html|archive-date=2014-10-25|access-date=2014-10-25}}</ref> Quneitra was ''[[de facto]]'' controlled by the [[Southern Front (Syrian rebel group)|Southern Front]], a Syrian rebel alliance. By the end of July 2018, Syrian Government forces regained control over the city,<ref name=syriahr2018/><ref name=Reuter2018/> until the rebels retook it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Syrian Rebels Say Regime 'Overthrown' as Assad Reportedly Flees Damascus |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/2024-12-07/ty-article/.premium/syrian-rebels-take-quneitra-in-syrian-golan-near-israeli-border-reports-say/00000193-a0b9-df61-a9d3-e9fb9a0c0000 |work=Haaretz |date=Dec 7, 2024}}</ref>

Quneitra came under the control of the Israeli armed forces during the [[Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)|Israeli invasion of Syria]] following the [[fall of the Assad regime]] in December 2024.

==Etymology==
Qantara is the Arabic word for arched bridge.<ref name="Rajki">András Rajki, [https://archive.org/download/ArabicEtymologicalDictionary  Arabic Dictionary with etymologies], 2005, accessed 5 September 2018</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Syria Gate: all about Syria (official government website) |url= http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Quneitra/ |access-date= 2009-11-19 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081221221152/http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Quneitra/ |archive-date= 2008-12-21 }}</ref> Quneitra means small arch or bridge, and the name is derived from the small-arches bridge around which the town has been built.<ref>Ahron Bregman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ew1PAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT84  Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories], Penguin, 2014</ref>

==Political status==
{{Further information|International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict}}
Quneitra is the capital of the [[Quneitra Governorate]], a district of southwestern Syria that incorporates the whole of the Golan Heights. The city of Quneitra is within the portion of the Golan Heights controlled by Syria.<ref name="eb"/> [[Madinat al-Salam (Syria)|Madinat al-Salam]] (Peace City), also known as New Quneitra, replaced Quneitra as the administrative centre of Quneitra Governorate.<ref name=reuters20141120>{{cite news |title=Syrian insurgents attack government-held town near Israel |first=Suleiman |last=Al-Khalidi |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-south-idUKKCN0J422U20141120 |newspaper=Reuters |date=20 November 2014 |access-date=18 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507154319/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/uk-mideast-crisis-south-idUKKCN0J422U20141120 |archive-date=7 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Geography and demographics==
[[File:Golan heights rel89-orig.jpg|right|thumb|Map of the Golan Heights as of 1989, illustrating the location of Quneitra and the surrounding area.]]
Quneitra is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an altitude of {{convert|942|m|abbr=off}} [[above sea level]]. It is overshadowed to the west by the Israeli-held portion of the Golan Heights and the peak of [[Mount Bental|Har Bental]]. The surrounding area is dominated by ancient volcanic lava flows interspersed by a number of dormant [[volcanic cone]]s which rise some {{convert|150|to|200|m|abbr=off}} above the surrounding plain. The volcanic hills of the region have played a key role as observation points and natural firing positions in the conflicts over the region, most notably in the Yom Kippur War.<ref>Simon Dunstan. ''The Yom Kippur War 1973: The Sinai'', p. 9. Osprey Publishing, 2003. {{ISBN|1-84176-220-2}}</ref> In more peaceful times, the fertile volcanic soil has supported agricultural activities such as [[wheat]] growing and [[pastoralism]].<ref name="bromiley">Geoffrey William Bromiley. "Golan", in ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J'', p. 520. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8028-3782-4}}</ref>

Writing during the inter-war period, the American traveler Harriet-Louise H. Patterson recorded that Quneitra was

{{blockquote|charmingly set in a grove of [[eucalyptus]] trees. Its chief claim to charm or the few moments of a traveller's time beyond passport formalities is the beautiful vista which it offers of Jordan as it flows down from Hermon through banks of tangled bush and flowering pink and white oleanders. Kuneitra is pleasant as a stopping-place for lunch. It is cool under the spreading trees, usually quiet and restful.<ref>Harriet-Louise H. Patterson, ''Around The Mediterranean With My Bible''. W. A. Wilde Co., 1941</ref>}}

The city's position on an important trade route gave it a varied population for much of its history. By the start of the 20th century it was dominated by Muslim [[Circassians in Syria|Circassian]]s from the [[Caucasus]], accompanied by [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkmen]] and [[Arabs]].<ref name="Chatty112"/><ref name="t24 turkmen"/>  Its population grew to some 21,000 people, mostly [[Arab]]s, followed by [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkmen]] and [[Circassians]], following Syrian [[French Mandate of Syria|independence from France]] in 1946.<ref name="eb"/><ref name="t24 turkmen">{{cite news|url=http://t24.com.tr/haber/suriyenin-turkmenleri-ne-zaman-geldiler-nufuslari-ne-kadar-hangi-bolgelerdeler,319482|publisher=[[T24 (media)|T24]]|title=Suriye'nin Türkmenleri: Ne zaman geldiler, nüfusları ne kadar, hangi bölgelerdeler?|date=8 December 2015|access-date=19 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924052132/http://t24.com.tr/haber/suriyenin-turkmenleri-ne-zaman-geldiler-nufuslari-ne-kadar-hangi-bolgelerdeler,319482|archive-date=24 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://haberiniz.com.tr/haber/gundem/161836/suriye-turkmenleri-4.html|publisher=Haberiniz|title=Suriye Türkmenleri|date=3 July 2015|access-date=19 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126133049/http://haberiniz.com.tr/haber/gundem/161836/suriye-turkmenleri-4.html|archive-date=26 January 2017}}</ref> After its abandonment in 1967 and subsequent destruction, its population was dispersed to other parts of Syria. The city remains abandoned apart from a residual Syrian security presence.  Due to frequent and large population movements within Syria and across borders caused by war, there are no reliable population estimates available post-2011. The impact of the crisis has led to massive displacements and a gradual deterioration of access to basic services. Quneitra has also been the destination for many internally displaced persons (IDPs) from neighbouring Daraa and Rif Dimashq governorates. In August 2013, many of the estimated 75,000 IDPs from Nawa and Al-Harra in Daraa Governorate reportedly fled to Quneitra.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/140317%20-%20Quneitra%20Governorate%20Assessment%20Report%20-%20FINAL.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420053031/http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/140317%20-%20Quneitra%20Governorate%20Assessment%20Report%20-%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Climate===

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|collapsed = Y
|location =  Quneitra, elevation {{convert|941|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Jan high C = 9.3
|Feb high C = 10.8
|Mar high C = 13.8
|Apr high C = 18.0
|May high C = 23.2
|Jun high C = 27.2
|Jul high C = 28.1
|Aug high C = 29.1
|Sep high C = 26.7
|Oct high C = 24.2
|Nov high C = 17.8
|Dec high C = 12.1
| year high C = 
|Jan mean C = 5.6
|Feb mean C = 6.5
|Mar mean C = 9.0
|Apr mean C = 12.8
|May mean C = 17.2
|Jun mean C = 21.2
|Jul mean C = 21.8
|Aug mean C = 22.7
|Sep mean C = 20.6
|Oct mean C = 18.1
|Nov mean C = 12.8
|Dec mean C = 8.1
| year mean C = 
|Jan low C = 2.7
|Feb low C = 2.7
|Mar low C = 4.5
|Apr low C = 7.6
|May low C = 11.1
|Jun low C = 15.1
|Jul low C = 16.7
|Aug low C = 17.2
|Sep low C = 15.3
|Oct low C = 12.6
|Nov low C = 8.3
|Dec low C = 4.6
| year low C = 
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 191
|Feb precipitation mm = 141
|Mar precipitation mm = 110
|Apr precipitation mm = 33
|May precipitation mm = 31
|Jun precipitation mm = 1
|Jul precipitation mm = 0
|Aug precipitation mm = 0
|Sep precipitation mm = 1
|Oct precipitation mm = 19
|Nov precipitation mm = 87
|Dec precipitation mm = 180
|year precipitation mm = 
| source 1 = [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]]<ref name=FAO>{{cite web
| url = https://www.fao.org/land-water/land/land-governance/land-resources-planning-toolbox/category/details/fr/c/1028000/
| title = World-wide Agroclimatic Data of FAO (FAOCLIM)
| publisher= Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations
| access-date = 21 December 2024}}</ref>
}}

==History==
===Prehistory===
[[File:Quneitra, 1929.jpg|thumb|right|Skyline of Quneitra, 1929]]

The surrounding area has been inhabited for millennia. [[Palaeolithic]] hunter-gatherers are thought to have lived there, as evidenced by the discovery of [[Levallois technique|Levallois]] and [[Mousterian]] flint tools in the vicinity.<ref>Takeru Akazawa, Kenichi Aoki, Ofer Bar-Yosef, ''Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Western Asia'', p. 154. Springer, 1998. {{ISBN|0-306-45924-8}}</ref>

===Hellenistic to Byzantine periods===
A settlement was established at least as early as the late Hellenistic period,<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HQyxvmYV-50C&pg=PA395 |title= Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery|author= Dan Urman, Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher |page= 395 |year= 1998|publisher= BRILL|isbn= 9004112545}}</ref> and continued through the [[Syria (Roman province)|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] times; it was known by the name "Sarisai".<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HQyxvmYV-50C&pg=PA398 |title= Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery |author= Dan Urman, Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher |page= 398 |year= 1998|publisher= BRILL |isbn= 9004112545 }}</ref> The settlement served as a stop on the road from [[Damascus]] to western [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. [[Paul the Apostle|Saint Paul]] is said to have passed through the settlement on his way from [[Jerusalem]] to Damascus. The site of the [[Conversion of Paul]] was traditionally identified with the small village of Kokab, north-east of Quneitra, on the road to Damascus.<ref>Ivan Mannheim, "Biblical Damascus", in ''Syria & Lebanon Handbook'', p. 100. 2001, Footprint Travel Guides. {{ISBN|1-900949-90-3}}</ref>

===Late Ottoman period===
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries Quneitra was abandoned.<ref name="Chatty112">{{cite book |last= Chatty |first= Dawn |title= Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East |date= 2010 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= New York |isbn=978-0-521-81792-9 |pages=112–114 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8OsgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112}}</ref> In 1868 a travel handbook reported that the site was a "ruined village of about 80 or 100 houses" and that a large ''[[caravanserai]]'' also stood in ruins.<ref>[[Josias Leslie Porter|Porter, Josias Leslie]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BIZEWykI9fMC&pg=PA439 A handbook for travellers in Syria and Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118010635/https://books.google.com/books?id=BIZEWykI9fMC&pg=PA439 |date=2016-01-18 }}, J. Murray, 1868,  p. 439. [Harvard University, 4 Jan 2007].</ref> Semi-nomadic pastoral groups such as the [[Arab]] [[Al Fadl]] and [[Banu Nu'aym]] tribes and several [[Syrian Turkmens|Turkmen]] tribes grazed their flocks in Quneitra's rocky lands.<ref name="Chatty112"/>

In 1873, a group of [[Circassians in Syria|Circassians]] from [[Sivas]] in [[Anatolia]] settled in Quneitra. This initial group did not cultivate the area for a number of years.<ref name="Chatty112"/> A second wave of Circassians, numbering about 2,000, arrived in the Golan in 1878 via [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] after fleeing [[Bulgaria]] due to the [[Russo-Turkish War]].<ref name="Chatty112"/> Along with Quneitra, they settled or built number of other villages in the vicinity.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Golan Heights: Political History, Settlement and Geography since 1949 |last=Kipnis |first=Yigal |page=78 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2013 |isbn=9781136740923}}</ref> The Circassians began farming the area and each family was given title to 70 to 130 dunams of land by the government depending on the family's size.<ref name="Chatty112"/> The Ottomans encouraged Circassian settlement in the Golan as a means to drive a wedge between the frequently rebellious [[Druze]] villages of [[Mount Hermon]] and those in [[Jabal al-Druze|Jabal Hauran]].<ref name="Chatty112"/> The Circassians of Quneitra engaged in sustained conflicts with the Druze and the Al Fadl through the remainder of the 19th century.<ref name="Chatty112"/>

Modern Quneitra grew around the nucleus of the old [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] caravanserai, which had been built using the stones of a ruined ancient settlement.<ref name="flesher">Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher, Dan Urman, ''Ancient Synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery'', p. 394. Brill Academic Publishers, 1995. {{ISBN|90-04-11254-5}}</ref> By the mid-1880s, Quneitra had become the main city and seat of government of the Golan. Gottlieb Schumacher wrote in 1888 that it "consists of 260 buildings, which are mostly well and carefully constructed of basalt stones, and contains, excluding the soldiers and officials, 1,300 inhabitants, principally Circassians."<ref name="Schmacher">{{cite book |author = G. Schmacher |title = The Jaulân |place = London |publisher= Richard Bentley and Son |year = 1888 |pages= 207–214}}</ref> Circassians moved away from the Golan beginning after the [[Six-Day War]] and again after the fall of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Monitor">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/02/turkey-golan-heights-circassian-minority.html |title= How Circassians maintain identity in changing Golan |date= 9 February 2017 |work= Al-Monitor |access-date= 10 February 2017 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170210020013/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/02/turkey-golan-heights-circassian-minority.html |archive-date= 10 February 2017}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], the [[Australian Mounted Division]] and 5th Cavalry Division defeated the Ottoman Turks at Quneitra on 29 September 1918, before they took Damascus<ref>{{cite journal|author=Sibert, E. L.|url=https://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin/archives/1928/MAY_JUN_1928/MAY_JUN_1928_FULL_EDITION.pdf|title=Campaign Summary and Notes on Horse Artillery in Sinai and Palestine|journal=The Field Artillery Journal|date=May–June 1928|volume=XVIII|issue=3|pages=255–271|access-date=2015-02-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003914/http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin/archives/1928/MAY_JUN_1928/MAY_JUN_1928_FULL_EDITION.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=live}}</ref> (see also [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)]]).

===Second World War===
Quneitra saw several battles during the [[Syria-Lebanon Campaign]] of the [[World War II|Second World War]], including the [[Battle of Damascus (1941)|Battle of Damascus]] and [[Battle of Kissoué]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Compton Mackenzie |author-link=Compton Mackenzie |title=Eastern Epic |location=London |year=1951 |publisher=Chatto & Windus}}</ref>

===Arab-Israeli conflict===
When the modern states of Syria and Israel gained their independence from [[French Mandate of Syria|France]] and [[Mandate for Palestine|Britain]] respectively after the Second World War, Quneitra gained a new strategic significance as a key road junction some {{convert|24|km}} from the border. It became a prosperous market town and military garrison, with its population tripling to over 20,000 people, predominately Arabs.<ref name="eb">"Qunaytirah, Al-." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007.</ref>

====Six-Day War====
Quneitra was the Syrian headquarters for the Golan Heights.<ref name="time campaign">{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837237,00.html |title=A Campaign for the Books |work=Time Magazine |date=1 September 1967 |access-date=18 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015083148/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837237,00.html |archive-date=15 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Israeli capture of the city occurred in chaotic circumstances on 10 June 1967, the last day of the Six-Day War. Israeli forces advancing towards Quneitra from the north-west prompted Syrian troops to deploy north of the city, under heavy bombardment, to defend the road to Damascus. At {{nowrap|8:45 a.m.}}, Syrian radio broadcast an announcement that the city had fallen, though it actually had not. Alarmed, the Syrian Army's redeployment turned into a chaotic retreat along the Damascus road.

According to 8th Brigade Commander Ibrahim Isma'il Khahya:
<blockquote>We received orders to block the roads leading to Quneitra. But then the fall of the city was announced and that caused many of my soldiers to leave the front and run back to Syria while the roads were still open. They piled onto vehicles. It further crushed our morale. I retreated before I ever saw an enemy soldier.<ref>{{cite book |title=Six Days of War |publisher=Ballantine Books |author=Oren, Michael |author-link=Michael Oren |year=2002 |location=New York |pages=301}}</ref> 
</blockquote>

Although a correction was broadcast two hours later, the Israelis took advantage of the confusion to seize Quneitra.<ref name="beattie">Andrew Beattie, Timothy Pepper, ''The Rough Guide to Syria'' 2nd edition, p. 146. Rough Guides, 2001. {{ISBN|1-85828-718-9}}</ref> An armoured brigade under Colonel [[Albert Mandler]] entered Quneitra at {{nowrap|2:30 p.m.}} and found the city deserted and strewn with abandoned military equipment. One of the Israeli commanders later commented:

<blockquote>We arrived almost without hindrance to the gates of Quneitra&nbsp;... All around us there were huge quantities of booty. Everything was in working order. Tanks with their engines still running, communication equipment still in operation, had been abandoned. We captured Quneitra without a fight.<ref name="Bowen">Jeremy Bowen, ''Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East'', p. 304. Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7432-3095-7}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] reported: "In an effort to pressure the United Nations into enforcing a ceasefire, Damascus Radio undercut its own army by broadcasting the fall of the city of El Quneitra three hours before it actually capitulated. That premature report of the surrender of their headquarters destroyed the morale of the Syrian troops left in the Golan area."<ref name="time campaign"/>
[[File:Golan Heights (997009324092605171.jpg|thumb|Israeli soldiers detaining residents of the Syrian village of Quneitra after its conquest in June 1967]]
A ceasefire was agreed later in the afternoon, leaving Quneitra under Israeli control. In June 1967, ''Time'' magazine wrote that: "The city of El Quneitra was a ghost town, its shops shuttered, its deserted streets patrolled by Israelis on house-to-house searches for caches of arms and ammunition. The hills echoed with explosions as Israeli sappers systematically destroyed the miniature Maginot line from which the Syrians had shelled kibbutzim across the [[Sea of Galilee]]."<ref>{{cite news |title=Coping with Victory |work=Time Magazine |date=23 June 1967 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839520,00.html |access-date=17 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215130443/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839520,00.html |archive-date=15 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Special Representative of the Secretary General|United Nations Special Representative]], [[Nils-Göran Gussing]], visited it in July and reported that "nearly every shop and every house seemed to have been broken into and looted" and that some buildings had been set on fire after they had been stripped. Although Israeli spokesmen told Gussing that Quneitra had actually been looted by the withdrawing Syrians, the UN representative viewed this as unlikely given the extremely short space of time between the erroneous radio announcement and the fall of the city a few hours later. He concluded that "responsibility for this extensive looting of the town of Quneitra lay to a great extent with the Israeli forces."<ref name="Bowen"/>

The civilian population, consisting mostly of Sunni Muslims, among whom there were a few thousand refugees from the 1948 War, as well as some Circassians and others, was all expelled by the Israeli army, with the exception of the Druze.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haokets |date=2017-07-18 |title=The Syrian refugees Israelis prefer to forget |url=https://www.972mag.com/the-syrian-refugees-israelis-prefer-to-forget/ |access-date=2025-08-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Then, additional numbers of Circassian moved to the Caucasus after the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref name="Monitor"/>

====Israeli occupation====
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990044455670205171).jpg|thumb|Military police headquarters in Quneitra under Israeli occupation, 1969.]]
The deserted city remained in Israeli hands for the next six years. However, Israel and Syria remained in a state of war throughout this period (and, indeed, to the present day). The town gained a fresh symbolic value; it was seen by the Syrians as "the badge of Syria's defeat, an emblem of hatred between Syria and Israel and a cross [Syrian President [[Hafez al-Assad]]] had to bear."<ref>Seale, Patrick. (1988). Asad of Syria: The struggle for the Middle East (p. 141). Berkeley: University of California Press</ref> Syria shelled the city several times during the early 1970s; in June 1970 a Syrian armored unit launched an attack,<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel and Syria battle third day in the Golan area |work=The New York Times |date=27 June 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/27/archives/israel-and-syria-battle-third-day-in-the-golan-area-tanks-artillery.html |author=Charles Mohr |access-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722214107/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/27/archives/israel-and-syria-battle-third-day-in-the-golan-area-tanks-artillery.html |archive-date=22 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in November 1972, Damascus radio announced that Syrian [[artillery]] had again shelled Quneitra.<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria Shells Israeli Bases in Occupied Golan Heights|work=The New York Times|date=26 November 1972|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/26/archives/syria-shells-israeli-bases-in-occupied-golan-heights.html|access-date=22 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722222733/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/26/archives/syria-shells-israeli-bases-in-occupied-golan-heights.html|archive-date=22 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Yom Kippur War====
[[File:1973 Yom Kippur War - Golan heights theater.jpg|thumb|400px|Golan Heights campaign during Yom Kippur War]]
During the first few days of the [[Yom Kippur War]] in 1973, Quneitra was briefly recaptured by the Syrian Army before it was repulsed in an Israeli counter-offensive.<ref>"Tables turned on Arabs, Israel general says". ''The Times'', 9 October 1973, p. 8</ref> 
In the middle of October 1973 the Israeli counter-offensive started. The Syrians had massed nearly 1,000 tanks along a {{convert|60|mi|km|sigfig=1|order=flip|abbr=on}} front. With a massive concentration of tanks, the Israelis lashed into the Syrian forces. The Syrians at first fell back, but then managed to counterattack and drive back into occupied territory.  Quneitra changed hands several times. Finally, Israeli [[Armoured warfare|armored units]], closely supported by [[F-4 Phantom II|Phantoms]] and [[A-4 Skyhawk|Skyhawks]] performing [[close air support]] with [[napalm]] strikes against the forward Syrian units, halted the Syrian drive and turned the Syrian Army back.<ref>{{cite news|title=The War of the Day of Judgment|publisher=Time Magazine|date=October 22, 1973|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908039,00.html|access-date=February 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214080415/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908039,00.html|archive-date=December 14, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Destruction of Quneitra and return to Syrian control====
[[File:Quneitra building.jpg|right|thumb|Destroyed building in Quneitra]]
Israel continued to control the city until early June 1974, when it was returned to Syrian civilian control following the signature of a United States-brokered [[Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria|disengagement agreement]] signed on 31 May 1974. The surrender of Quneitra was controversial, with Israeli settlers<ref name="times070574">"Settlers insist Israel keeps Golan". ''The Times'', 7 May 1974, p. 6</ref> and the [[Likud]] and [[National Religious Party]] opposing it.<ref>"Criticism in Israel over peace pact's concessions to Syria". ''The Times'', 30 May 1974, p. 7</ref> According to [[Michael Mandelbaum]], the agreement provided that the city was to be repopulated to serve as evidence of peaceful Syrian intentions, by doing so it would encourage the Israelis to pull back further.<ref>[[Michael Mandelbaum]], ''The Fate of Nations: The Search for National Security in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'', p. 316. Cambridge University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|052135790X}}</ref>

In an attempt to block the withdrawal, a group of settlers from [[Merom Golan]] – a settlement established in 1967 – took over an abandoned bunker in Quneitra and declared it to be a new settlement called [[Keshet, Golan Heights|Keshet]] (Quneitra in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]). The settlers also set about razing the existing town to the ground. The leader of Merom Golan, Yehuda Harel, and another Merom Golan member, Shimshon Wollner, initiated the destruction of Quneitra, which was carried out by the [[Land Development Administration]] of the [[Jewish National Fund]]. Harel later described what happened:

{{blockquote |Shimshon and I walked around Quneitra all day and tried decide what to do. And then these two strange ideas came up. One was to establish a settlement in Quneitra and the second was to destroy Quneitra.<ref name="Kipnis160">Kipnis, p. 160</ref>}}

Wollner and Harel asked the Jewish National Fund to carry out the work, ostensibly to prepare an area for agricultural cultivation, but were refused as they did not have permission from the Israeli army. They then approached the Assistant to the Head of Northern Command and asked him to mark on a map which buildings the army needed. According to Harel,

{{blockquote |So he took a felt pen and marked the hospital and a few other places – he wrote "not for destruction" and on other places he wrote "for destruction" and he signed. He thought he was signing about what not to destroy but he was actually writing to destroy . . . The tractors of the Jewish National Fund did the destroying. They weren't our tractors . . . I can tell you that even the tractor drivers were Arabs.<ref name="Kipnis160"/>}}

The buildings were systematically stripped,<ref name="eb" /> with anything movable being removed and sold to Israeli contractors, before they were pulled apart with tractors and bulldozers.<ref>Lara Dunston, Terry Carter, Andrew Humphreys. ''Syria & Lebanon'', p. 129. Lonely Planet, 2004. {{ISBN|1-86450-333-5}}</ref>

The disengagement went into force on 6 June.<ref>"Israel-Syrian disengagement goes into effect today after detailed plan is signed in Geneva". ''The Times'', 6 June 1974, p. 6</ref> On 26 June, the Syrian president [[Hafez al-Assad]] travelled to Quneitra where he pledged to return the rest of the occupied territories to Syrian control.<ref>"Egypt offers air force to defend Lebanon". ''The Times'', 26 June 1974, p. 6</ref> Western reporters accompanied Syrian refugees returning to the city in early July 1974 and described what they saw on the ground. [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]]'s correspondent reported that "Most of its buildings are knocked flat, as though by dynamite, or pockmarked by shellfire."<ref>{{cite news|title=Returning to Quneitra|publisher=Time Magazine|date=8 July 1974|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943909,00.html|access-date=18 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222052242/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943909,00.html|archive-date=22 December 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[Le Monde]]'''s Syria correspondent, in a report for ''[[The Times]]'', gave a detailed eyewitness description of the destruction:

<blockquote>Today the city is unrecognisable. The houses with their roofs lying on the ground look like gravestones. Parts of the rubble are covered with fresh earth furrowed by bulldozer tracks. Everywhere there are fragments of furniture, discarded kitchen utensils, Hebrew newspapers dating from the first week of June; here a ripped-up mattress, there the springs of an old sofa. On the few sections of wall still standing, Hebrew inscriptions proclaim: "There'll be another round"; "You want Quneitra, you'll have it destroyed."<ref name="times100774">"Golan's capital turns into heap of stones". ''The Times'', 10 July 1974, p. 8</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Destruction in the al-Qunaytra village in the Golan Heights, after the Israeli withdrawal in 1974.jpg|thumb|Ruins in the town in 1974]]
Israel asserted that most of the damage had been caused in the two wars and during the artillery duels in between.<ref>"Israel fears Russian incitement of Arabs". ''The Times'', 8 September 1975</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Corrections | work= The New York Times | date= 9 May 2001 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E7DB153BF93AA35756C0A9679C8B63}}</ref> Several reports from before the withdrawal did refer to the city as "ruined" and "shell-scarred".<ref>"Syrian 160mm mortar shells were falling on the northern side of the city, a shell-scarred ghost city since its capture by the Israelis in 1967". "Debris of two armies litters Damascus road". ''The Times'', 5 October 1973</ref><ref>"Kuneitra, the ruined capital of the Heights". "Village life on the wild frontier of the Golan". ''The Times'', 5 April 1974</ref><ref>"The officer conceded that the ruined city itself was of no military importance to Israel." "Israel sees no end to Golan battle". ''The Times'', 2 May 1974.</ref> ''The Times''' correspondent saw the city for himself on 6 May, a month before the Israeli withdrawal, and described it as being "in ruins and deserted after seven years of war and dereliction. It looks like a wild west city struck by an earthquake and if the Syrians get it back they will face a major feat of reconstruction. Nearly every building is heavily damaged and scores have collapsed."<ref name="times070574" />

Direct evidence of the city's condition was provided when it was filmed on 12 May 1974 by a British television news team which included the veteran journalist [[Peter Snow]], who was reporting for [[Independent Television News]] on the disengagement negotiations. His report was broadcast on ITN's ''News at Ten'' programme. According to ''The Times''' correspondent [[Edward Mortimer]], "viewers were thus afforded a panoramic view of the city, which had stood almost completely empty since the Syrian army evacuated it in 1967. It could be seen that many of the buildings were damaged, but most of them were still standing." After it was handed over, "very few buildings were left standing. Most of those destroyed did not present the jagged outline and random heaps of rubble usually produced by artillery or aerial bombardment. The roofs lay flat on the ground, 'pancaked' in a manner which I am told can only be achieved by systematic dynamiting of the support walls inside." Mortimer concluded that the footage "establishes beyond reasonable doubt that much of the destruction took place after 12 May—at a time when there was no fighting anywhere near Kuneitra."<ref>"A question mark over the death of a city." ''The Times'', 17 February 1975, p. 12</ref>

The [[United Nations]] established a ''Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories'', which engaged a Swiss engineer [[Eduard Gruner|Edward Gruner]] to investigate the damage.<ref name="Gruner">UN Secretary General: Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories; including Edward Gruner: Quneitra Report on Nature, Extent and Value of Damage. [https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/8BF5BE1EBC256B43852569EB006C4022 A/31/218] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224213925/https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/8BF5BE1EBC256B43852569EB006C4022 |date=2017-12-24 }} 1 October 1976</ref> Gruner and a team of surveyors spent four months in Quneitra, documenting every building and its condition.<ref name="Gruner" /> His report concluded that Israeli forces had deliberately destroyed the city prior to their withdrawal, including almost 4,000 buildings and a large amount of infrastructure, of value estimated at 463 million Syrian pounds.<ref name="Gruner" /> The report's conclusions were subsequently adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]]. It passed a resolution on 29 November 1974 describing the destruction of Quneitra as "a grave breach of the [Fourth] [[Fourth Geneva Convention|Geneva Convention]]" and "condemn[ing] Israel for such acts," by a margin of 93 votes to 8, with 74 abstentions.<ref name="ungar3240" /> The [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] also voted to condemn the "deliberate destruction and devastation" of Quneitra in a resolution of 22 February 1975, by a margin of 22 votes to one (the United States) with nine abstentions.<ref name="times220275">"Human Rights Commission condemns Israel". ''The Times'', 22 February 1975</ref>

====As a city ruin====
[[File:Golan Hospital.jpeg|250px|right|thumb|Quneitra hospital. The sign reads: <!-- PLEASE DO NOT AMEND THE FOLLOWING TRANSLATION -->"Golan Hospital. Destructed by Zionists and changed it to firing target!" ''[sic]'']]
[[File:Quneitra.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the city]]
The city remains in a destroyed condition. Syria has left the ruins in place and built a museum to memorialize its destruction.  It maintains billboards at the ruins of many buildings and effectively preserves it in the condition that the Israeli army left it in. The former residents of the town have not returned and Syria discourages the re-population of the area.<ref name="beattie" /> However, in the 2004 census by the [[Central Bureau of Statistics (Syria)|Central Bureau of Statistics]], a small population of 153 people living in 28 households was recorded, all living in the neighborhood of Rasm al-Rawabi.<ref name="CBS" /> The ''[[Rough Guides|Rough Guide to Syria]]'' describes the appearance of the city in 2001: "The first sight of the flattened houses on Quneitra's outskirts is the most dramatic; many of the unscathed roofs simply lie on top of a mass of rubble, leaving the impression of a building that has imploded."<ref name="beattie" />

The city has often been used as a stop for foreign VIPs, ranging from the Soviet foreign minister [[Alexei Kosygin]] in June 1976<ref>"Syrians offered Soviet support by Mr Kosygin". ''The Times'', 4 June 1976, p. 6</ref> to [[Pope John Paul II]] in May 2001.<ref>"[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1315453.stm Pope visits Golan Heights] ". BBC News, 7 May 2001</ref> Only a handful of families now live in the town, making a living by providing services for the United Nations troops patrolling the demilitarized zone.<ref>"Pope prays for peace in war-torn Syrian town", ''News Letter'' (Belfast); 8 May 2001; p. 17</ref> According to ''The Times'', "the carefully preserved ruined city has become a pilgrimage site for a generation of Syrians."<ref>"Silence of Syria's forgotten siege", ''The Times''; 8 May 2001; p. 15</ref>

Prior to the [[Syrian Civil War]], the city could be visited by tourists with a permit from the [[Ministry of Interior (Syria)|Syrian Ministry of the Interior]] and under the supervision of a military guide. The principal sights on the standard tour were the remains of Quneitra's hospital, mosque and [[Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch|Greek Orthodox]] church. A "Liberated Quneitra Museum", displaying artifacts from the city's ancient and medieval past, is housed in the former Ottoman Turkish [[caravanserai]] in the city centre. The western edge of the city marks the start of "no-man's land" beyond which lies Israeli-controlled territory. It was and still is not possible to visit Quneitra directly from Israel.<ref name="mannheim">Ivan Mannheim, ''Syria & Lebanon Handbook'', p. 142. 2001, Footprint Travel Guides. {{ISBN|1-900949-90-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SyrianArabRepublic.html|title=Syria: Entry, Exit and Visa Requirements|publisher=U.S. Department of State|date=February 20, 2018|access-date=August 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822145834/https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SyrianArabRepublic.html|archive-date=August 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Civil war===
{{further information|Quneitra Governorate clashes (2012–14)|2014 Quneitra offensive}}

On 13 November 2012, during the ongoing Syrian Civil War, which had begun in March 2011, Syria′s president [[Bashar al-Assad]] issued a decreed establishment of a branch of the [[University of Damascus]] in Quneitra.<ref>{{cite news |title=President Bashar al-Assad Decrees on Establishing Branch for Damascus University in Quneitra |url=http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/11/13/452229.htm |last1=Nassr |first1=M. |last2=Ghossoun |agency=[[Syrian Arab News Agency]] |date=13 November 2012 |access-date=13 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116232744/http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/11/13/452229.htm |archive-date=16 November 2012 }}</ref>

On 6 June 2013, the nearby [[Quneitra Crossing|Quneitra border crossing]] was attacked by rebel forces and temporarily occupied, with Syrian army later retaking the crossing;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.528105|title=Syrian rebels and Assad forces battle for control of key town on Israel border|date=6 June 2013|work=Haaretz.com|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418074618/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.528105|archive-date=18 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2013, opposition forces attacked a military checkpoint in Quneitra,{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} and by the next day were attacking several Syrian Arab Army positions in Quneitra.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In August 2014, rebel forces [[2014 Quneitra offensive|captured the crossing]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://online.wsj.com/articles/rebels-in-syria-capture-border-crossing-by-israel-1409166944 |title= Rebels in Syria Capture Border Crossing With Israel |work= The Wall Street Journal |first1= Sam |last1= Dagher |first2= Joshua |last2= Mitnick |date= August 27, 2014 |access-date= November 27, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141030012523/http://online.wsj.com/articles/rebels-in-syria-capture-border-crossing-by-israel-1409166944 |archive-date= October 30, 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref> A Filipino peacekeeper of the [[United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone|UNDOF]] was wounded during the fighting. As a result the Austrian government announced the withdrawal of its troops from the UN mission.<ref name="standard66">{{cite news |url=http://derstandard.at/1369362784181/Oesterreichische-Blauhelme-auf-Golan-unter-schwerem-Beschuss |title=Österreich zieht seine Blauhelme von umkämpften Golanhöhen ab |language=de |date=6 June 2013 |access-date=6 June 2013 |publisher=[[Der Standard]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607104852/http://derstandard.at/1369362784181/Oesterreichische-Blauhelme-auf-Golan-unter-schwerem-Beschuss |archive-date=7 June 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="grauniad1306">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/syrian-golan-crossing-israeli-military-quneitra |title=Austria to withdraw Golan Heights peacekeepers over Syrian fighting |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 June 2013 |access-date=6 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828050138/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/syrian-golan-crossing-israeli-military-quneitra |archive-date=28 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 26 July 2018, the Syrian Army took back the town of Quneitra after rebels surrendered and handed over the heavy and medium weapons to army.<ref name=syriahr2018>{{Cite web |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=98858 |title=After days of negotiations, an agreement and settlements were reached in towns in the northern countryside of Quneitra |date=26 July 2018 |access-date=2018-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726170527/http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=98858 |archive-date=2018-07-26 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Reuter2018>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-quneitra/syrian-flag-raised-in-quneitra-on-syrian-side-of-golan-heights-idUSKBN1KG1Y5 Syrian flag raised in Quneitra on Syrian side of Golan Heights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727220811/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-quneitra/syrian-flag-raised-in-quneitra-on-syrian-side-of-golan-heights-idUSKBN1KG1Y5 |date=2018-07-27 }}, Reuter, July 26, 2018</ref>

==Religious buildings==
[[File:QuneitraChurch.jpg|thumb|St. George Greek Orthodox Church]]
* St. George Greek Orthodox Church<ref>{{cite web | title=University of Balamand Lebanon | url=http://home.balamand.edu.lb/arabic/arpoa.asp?id=5471 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Quneitra Crossing]]
* [[Shebaa Farms]]
* [[Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab-Israeli conflict]]
* [[1974 Kuneitra Cup]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Goren-Inbar, N., and Paul Goldberg. ''Quneitra: A Mousterian Site on the Golan Heights''. Publications of the Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 31. [Jerusalem]: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.125556,35.823889&spn=0.1,0.1&t=k&q=33.125556,35.823889 Satellite view of Quneitra] ([[Google Maps]])

{{Cities of Syria}}
{{Quneitra Governorate}}
{{Coord|33|07|32|N|35|49|26|E|type:city|display=title}}

[[Category:1873 establishments in Ottoman Syria]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1873]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in 1974]]
[[Category:Cities in Syria]]
[[Category:Destroyed populated places]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in Asia]]
[[Category:Ruins in Syria]]
[[Category:Former populated places in the Golan Heights]]
[[Category:Golan Heights]]
[[Category:Quneitra District]]