There is no agreed-upon international border between Israel and Syria. Between 1949 and 1967, the boundary lines between were military lines determined mainly as the result of wars and the Armistice Agreement of July 1949.

Syria tried to prevent Israel from executing vital development projects in the area, like the draining of the Lake Huleh marshes and the building of the National Water Carrier which carries fresh water from the Kinneret Lake to the Negev desert in the south. It also tried to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River. These issues contributed to the outbreak of the Six-Day War in June 1967, in which Israel managed to capture the Golan Heights and to remove the threat to its vital water resources.