Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed the Golan Heights will forever stay in Israel's hands, at the country's first cabinet meeting held in the occupied territory.
He called on the international community to recognise Israeli sovereignty.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967's Six-Day War.
Israel annexed the region in 1981 but the move has not been internationally recognised. Syria demands its return.
Mr Netanyahu said at the start of the cabinet meeting: "I chose to have this festive cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights to send a clear message: the Golan Heights will forever remain in Israeli hands.
"It's time, after 50 years, that the international community finally recognises that the Golan will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty."
Settlements
But Mr Netanyahu said: "Whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change."
There are more than 30 Jewish settlements on the heights, with an estimated 20,000 settlers.
Israel has avoided any major involvement in Syria's conflict but fears any increased presence in Syria of Hezbollah fighters, Sunni militant groups or Iranian troops.
Mr Netanyahu said he had told US Secretary of State John Kerry that Israel would "not oppose a diplomatic settlement in Syria, on condition that it not come at the expense of the security of the state of Israel".
That meant "at the end of the day, the forces of Iran, Hezbollah and [so-called Islamic State] will be removed from Syrian soil."
