Failure to reach a peace agreement that includes returning the Golan Heights could lead to Syrian efforts to take the area by force, Army Radio reported. A group called the Syrian Committee for the Freedom of the Golan threatened to take steps to regain control of what they called “Syrian land”, blaming Israel for not showing a willingness to achieve peace.

The comments were made at the inauguration ceremony for a new communications center in Quneitra that was attended by Syrian President Bashar Assad. "The communications center will report on the troubles of Syrian residents residing in the occupied Golan under barbaric and racist Israeli rule," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said at the ceremony in a reference to Druze living in the Golan.