The US Department of State has changed its usual terminology for the Golan Heights in its latest Human Rights Report. The annual document no longer reads "occupied by Israel". Instead, the US government only writes of "Israel-controlled" areas.

The section headings in the reports have also changed. While the corresponding passages in the reports published in the previous year in 2016 and 2017 were still headed "Israel and the Occupied Territories," the section published in 2018 was "Israel, Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza."

Israel conquered and later annexed parts of the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. The 1974 ceasefire agreement established a narrow buffer zone between the two countries. The area is strategic military and important for access to water sources.

US State Department: "Policy unchanged"

Already on Monday, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham traveled with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through the Golan. He promised to join the Trump government in recognizing the area as belonging to Israel.

A US State Department spokesman told Reuters that the absence of words in the current report should not be given too much attention. The report focuses on human rights issues rather than international terms. He is quoted as saying: "The policy regarding the status of the territories has not changed."

The UN describes the area as occupied and criticizes Israel regularly - at the end of 2018, 151 countries voted in favor of this resolution. Most recently, the US had voted against it for the first time, but usually abstained. US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, cited, among other things, the civil war in neighboring Syria as a reason.

Golan heights

The abstention and change of wording may be seen as further US steps to strengthen Israel's position in the region. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had already moved the US embassy to Jerusalem - and recognized the city as the Israeli capital. This led to furious Palestinian protests, and their leadership lamented before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Palestinians claim their own state with the eastern part of the city as their own capital.

Any recognition of the Golan Heights as an Israeli area by the US could have an impact on the Israeli election campaign - and support incumbent Netanyahu. On April 9, parliamentary elections will take place in the country.