Quneitra, SANA – The 26th of June, 1974 marks a day of pride for Syrians across the country on which the Israeli occupation of the southern city of Quneitra was brought to an end.
The city of Quneitra, located in the Golan heights, came under Israeli control on 10 June 1967, the last day of the Six-Day War. It was briefly recaptured by Syria during the 1973 War, only to once again fall in the Israeli occupation forces’ hands.
It was largely demolished by the time Syria, under the leadership of late President Hafez al-Assad, liberated it from occupation in 1974.
Up to this day, Quneitra stands a living witness to the barbarity of the Israeli occupation which deliberately inflicted the ugliest forms of savagery on almost everything in the city, leaving churches, mosques, hospitals, schools and facilities flattened even after a ceasefire was announced.
The exalted day of victory against the Zionist enemy continues to send the Syrians’ spirits soaring high over increased confidence in notching up a renewed victory against Syria’s new-old staunch enemies who have constantly been in trouble to subvert the Syrian state operating their terrorist tools all across the country to that effect.
Forty-two years after hoisting the Syrian flag in the liberated Quneitra, the Syrians in the Golan continue to defy Israeli measures and the unjust annexation decisions as Israeli authorities push ahead with their expansionist policies by confiscating lands, arresting people of Golan and stealing water and natural resources.
Syria has repeatedly reiterated that the return of Golan is a non-negotiable matter, seizing every opportunity to stress that the steadfastness of the Syrian people in the Golan and their rejection of Israeli measures and identity is a proof of the Israeli occupation’s inability to break the will of the people.
Manal