Кунейтра қаласы: тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

a city in Syria

Quneitra (also Al Qunaytirah, Qunaitira, or Kuneitra; ٱلْقُنَيْطِرَة or ٱلْقُنَيطْرَة, al Qunayṭrah or al Qunayṭirah ) is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at 1,010 metres (3,313 feet) On 10 June 1967, the last day of the Six Day War, Quneitra came under Israeli control. 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, while Israel has also criticized Syria for not rebuilding Quneitra. 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, Quneitra was de facto controlled by the Southern Front, a Syrian rebel alliance. By the end of July 2018, Syrian Government forces regained control over the city. Quneitra means small arch or bridge, and the name is derived from the small arches bridge around which the town has been built.

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.

Quneitra is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an altitude of above sea level. It is overshadowed to the west by the Israeli held portion of the Golan Heights and the peak of Har Bental. The surrounding area is dominated by ancient volcanic lava flows interspersed by a number of dormant volcanic cones which rise some 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. In more peaceful times, the fertile volcanic soil has supported agricultural activities such as wheat growing and pastoralism. Writing during the inter war period, the American traveler Harriet Louise H. Patterson recorded that Quneitra was

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 from the Caucasus, accompanied by Turkmen and Arabs. 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.

The surrounding area has been inhabited for millennia. Palaeolithic hunter gatherers are thought to have lived there, as evidenced by the discovery of Levallois and Mousterian flint tools in the vicinity.

A settlement was established at least as early as the late Hellenistic period, and continued through the Roman and Byzantine times; it was known by the name "Sarisai". The settlement served as a stop on the road from Damascus to western Palestine. 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.

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries Quneitra was abandoned. 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. Semi nomadic pastoral groups such as the Arab Al Fadl and Banu Nu'aym tribes and several Turkmen tribes grazed their flocks in Quneitra's rocky lands. 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. 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." Circassians moved away from the Golan beginning after the Six Day War and again after the fall of the Soviet Union. 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 (see also Battle of Megiddo (1918)).

Quneitra saw several battles during the Syria Lebanon Campaign of the Second World War, including the Battle of Damascus and Battle of Kissoué.

When the modern states of Syria and Israel gained their independence from France and Britain respectively after the Second World War, Quneitra gained a new strategic significance as a key road junction some from the border. It became a prosperous market town and military garrison, with its population tripling to over 20,000 people, predominately Arabs.

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. In the middle of October 1973 the Israeli counter offensive started. The Syrians had massed nearly 1,000 tanks along a 60 mile (97 km) 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 armored units, closely supported by Phantoms and Skyhawks performing close air support with napalm strikes against the forward Syrian units, halted the Syrian drive and turned the Syrian Army back.