It is the first time Israeli troops would be stationed in the buffer zone since a 1974 agreement establishing the line of control between Israel and Syria, though they have in the past entered the area for brief periods. The buffer zone, a demilitarized area within Syria and administered by its government, was established in 1974 and was patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.