Syria condemns Israeli plans to double number of Golan Heights settlers

Syria's foreign ministry on Monday condemned Israeli plans to double the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights within five years as a "dangerous and unprecedented escalation," Syrian state media reported.

Israel's cabinet approved a blueprint on Sunday to build some 7,300 additional housing units on the strategic plateau that it captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, in a move that could tighten its hold on the territory.

"Syria strongly condemns the dangerous and unprecedented escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities" in the Golan, the state-run SANA news agency said, adding Damascus would seek to use all legally available means to retake the territory.

Syria has long demanded the return of the 1,200-square-km (460-square-mile) strip of land, which also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan.