Construction at a wind farm in the occupied Golan Heights has been paused after protests against the development by members of the local Druze community last week.
Israeli media reported that the 152MW Aran wind farm currently being developed by US energy company Energix would pause its construction during the observance of the Muslim holiday Eid which runs through 2 July.
The decision was attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Druze community has repeatedly demanded a halt to construction at the project. Druze demonstrators protesting its development were met with violence by Israeli police in the Golan Heights on Wednesday (21 June) with several people sustaining serious injuries.
The wind farm is reportedly being built on Druze agricultural land.
Israel occupied a large portion of the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in 1967 and officially annexed the territory in 1981. A United Nations Security Council resolution passed unanimously the same year declared Israel’s Golan Heights Law annexing the territory as “null and void and without international legal effect”.
Further resolutions have denounced Israel's actions in the region as being in "violation to international humanitarian law".
Both moves have been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and the UN Security Council has issued various demands for Israel to withdraw and cease new constructions on the territory.
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