Between March and May 1974, more than 1,000 such incidents had occurred with some Israeli civilian settlements in the Golan Heights also coming under Syrian fire. The fighting took place alongside armistice negotiations, which started in February 1974 with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger serving as a go-between. An armistice agreement was finally signed on May 31, 1974, with the Israelis evacuating the Salient shortly after and UN peacekeeping forces taking a position on a thin strip of land between the opposing sides.