UN Secretary-General calls on Israel to stop attacks on Syria
Last Updated on December 14, 2024 5:54 am
After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria, Israel has been carrying out one attack after another on the country’s military installations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern about Israel’s attacks on Syrian territory. He has called on Israel to immediately stop these attacks.
Israel carried out more than 500 attacks in Syria in 48 hours from last Tuesday (December 11) to Wednesday (December 12). In addition, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has deployed troops in a buffer zone along the Syrian border, violating the 1974 agreement.
These attacks and the deployment of troops have been strongly condemned by many countries, including France, Iran, Egypt, and Turkey, as recent and widespread violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This time, the UN Secretary-General has asked Israel to stop the attacks on Syria.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was particularly concerned about hundreds of Israeli airstrikes in several locations in Syria and stressed the urgent need to reduce violence on all fronts across the country.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered the army to seize civilian areas in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights as a defensive measure after rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.
The 235-square-kilometer buffer zone on the Israel-Syria border was established in the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria, which ended the Yom Kippur War, and has been manned by UN peacekeepers for decades.
The area is patrolled by a UN peacekeeping force known as UNDOF, which the UN warned Israel on Monday was violating a 50-year-old agreement ending a 1973 war with Syria.
Israel has insisted it will not be involved in the Syrian conflict and that the occupation of the buffer zone established in 1974 is a defensive measure and is only a limited and temporary measure to protect its security.