History
On 6 October 1973, in a surprise joint attack, Egypt attacked Israeli forces on the Suez Canal and in the Sinai while Syria attacked Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. The Israelis stopped the attacks and retook most of the lost ground. Israeli forces then pushed into Syria and Egypt. Fighting continued until 22 October 1973, when United Nations Security Council Resolution 338 called for a ceasefire. Two days later, Israel and Egypt violated the ceasefire and resumed fighting, resulting in United Nations Security Council Resolution 339, which ended the war. The conflict is now known as the Yom Kippur War. The United Nations Emergency Force II moved into place between Israeli and Egyptian armies in the Suez Canal area, stabilizing the situation.
Resolution 339 primarily reaffirmed the terms outlined in Resolution 338 (itself based on Resolution 242). It required the forces of both sides to return to the position they held when the initial ceasefire came into effect, and a request from the United Nations Secretary-General to undertake measures toward the placement of observers to supervise the ceasefire.
Tension remained high on the Israel-Syria front, and from March 1974 the situation became increasingly unstable. The United States undertook a diplomatic initiative, which resulted in the signing of the "Agreement on Disengagement" (S/11302/Add.1, annexes I and II) between Israeli and Syrian forces. The Agreement provided for a buffer zone and for two equal areas of limitation of forces and armaments on both sides of the area. It also called for the establishment of a United Nations observer force to supervise its implementation. The Agreement was signed on 31 May 1974 and, on the same day, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 350 to set up the UNDOF.
On 3 June 1974 General Briceno from Peru arrived, from Cairo, at the headquarters of the UNTSO ISMAC House, in Damascus and assumed operational command of all UNTSO Observers detailed to UNDOF. The first phase of the operation was manning the observation posts. The UNTSO observers were transferred to UNDOF on 1 June 1974 and were joined by advanced parties from both Austria and Peru on 3 June with Canadian and Polish personnel transferred from UNEF II to the UNDOF Area of Responsibility.
From 6 June 1974 to 25 June 1974, the second phase which included the physical disengagement of Syrian and Israeli forces was initiated. The Austrians and Polish shared a base camp at Kanikir near the town of Sassa. The Peruvians were deployed south of Quneitra near Ziouani. The Canadian logistics company and signal element were situated in Quneitra. The force headquarters remained in Damascus.
When UNDOF was re-organized in 1993 (the Finnish Government had decided to pull its troops from UNDOF), the UNDOF HQ moved from Damascus to Camp Faouar, the Austrian base camp situated half-way between the Sassa checkpoint and Quneitra, some 60 kilometers from Damascus.
Read more about this topic: United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone
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