Israel approves plan aiming to double annexed Golan population: statement

JERUSALEM: The Israeli government on Sunday approved a plan to double the population of the occupied and annexed Golan Heights, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the prime minister’s office said.

The government had “unanimously approved” the 40 million shekel ($11 million) “plan for the demographic development of the Golan… in light of the war and the new front in Syria and the desire to double the population”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel has occupied most of the Golan Heights since 1967 and annexed that area in 1981 in a move recognised only by the United States.