Returning Syrian refugees to this battleground would make them the “buffer” between these warring forces, turning more vulnerable people into collateral damage of a greater geopolitical war.

In Zionists’ eyes, these areas – and in particular East Jerusalem – should never be relinquished. In Israeli politics, Jerusalem is commonly referred to as the ‘eternal and indivisible’ capital of Israel. To reinforce these words, Israel has since the 1970s implemented an aggressive settlement policy. Apart from the settlements in the hills of the West Bank, some 200,000 Jews have also settled in East Jerusalem, under the authority of successive Israeli governments. Several hundred Jewish fanatics have even cracked houses in the Muslim and Christian neighbourhoods of the Old City.

Fanack provides an overview of Sudan’s geography, including its state borders, local climate, and natural resources.

The Temple Mount has been a focal point in the eruption of widespread violence in Israel and Palestine that has taken 11 Israeli and 75 Palestinian lives since mid-September 2015. Many Palestinians fear that Israel wants to change the status quo and let Jews pray at the site, or worse, take part of the site for themselves.

Fanack provides an overview of Egypt’s geography, including its state borders, local climate, and natural resources.

Analysis of the geography of Qatar: state borders, climate, biodiversity, land fertility, nature reserves and environmental issues.

An overview of Tunisia’s geography, including its state borders, local climate, and natural resources.

In 1975 King Hassan took advantage of political confusion in Spain following the death of General Franco to incorporate part of the Spanish Sahara into Morocco. The rest was transferred to Mauritania, which abandoned its area in 1979, in the face of determined opposition from the POLISARIO independence movement. The Mauritanian sector was then added to Moroccan territory by force.

The imposed borderlines had reduced historical Palestine to about half of its original size. A further dramatic reduction would occur in consequence of the recommendation of the United Nations in 1947 to partition Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.

An overview of Palestine’s geography, including climate, water, biodiversity, earthquakes and Jewish settlements.