Israeli agricultural settlements, set up on the occupied Golan Heights, have suffered serious damage from the Syrian shelling, returned by the Israelis, which began on the 23rd of June and continued for several days.

During the Golan Heights battles, Israel and Syria fought savage air and artillery battles, and thrust armoured columns across each other's lines.

It was the fiercest fighting between the two countries since the June War, even as American and Egyptian officials in Cairo were discussing a new U.S. plan for Middle East peace.

Syrian officials and military commanders have stressed that Syria will not allow continued Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, or indeed any Israeli presence.

What particularly inflames Syrian opinion is the apparently permanent nature of the Israeli presence. The seriously damaged farm settlement in this film is one of eleven. The Israeli tractors and bulldozers symbolise for the Syrians the Israeli intention to stay in the Golan Heights.

The Heights have immense strategic importance. They were partly occupied by Israeli to eliminate the threat of Syrian guns which could dominate Israeli settlements in the valley below.