The United Nations on Tuesday expressed “deep concern about the continuing violations” of the 1974 ceasefire agreed between Israel and Syria and “about the continued presence and activities” of the Israeli army in the demilitarized zone between the two countries, which it urged to stop demonstrating the UN’s “commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
The organization expressed its “deep concern about the continuing violations of the 1974 Separation Agreement, including non-compliance with the ceasefire, as well as the continued presence and activities of the Israel Defense Forces in the area of separation, which threaten the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic,” according to the spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, in a press conference.
António Guterres’ spokesman stressed: “We urge the parties to comply with their obligations under the agreement, including ending all unauthorized presence in the buffer zones and arms-limited areas,” and stressed that “there should be no military forces or activities in the buffer zone, except for those of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force.” Likewise, he reaffirmed the United Nations’ “commitment” to Syrian territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In this situation, Dujarric noted that communities east of the Golan Heights — a strategic area Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 — “continue to protest to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) regarding the presence and actions of the Israel Defense Forces in the area.”
Meanwhile, the spokesperson stated that UNDOF “continues to cooperate with the IDF to address these concerns,” while “also communicating regularly with local leaders in the area.”
Hours before that, on Tuesday the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his readiness to reach an agreement with Syria, despite his insistence that the Arab state establish “a demilitarized buffer zone extending from Damascus to the buffer zone, including the vicinity of Mount Hermon and its summit” to meet the security demands of the Israeli authorities.
The previous day, US President Donald Trump called on Israel not to “interfere” in Syria and to prioritize dialogue with the new authorities to make it a “prosperous country,” a week after at least 13 people were killed in an attack by Israeli forces on Syrian territory.
Israel intensified its military incursions into Syrian territory after President Bashar al-Assad fled the country following the attack by the militias led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, whose leader Ahmed al-Sharaa now heads the country. Israeli forces are currently moving freely through the demilitarized zone agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria in 1974, which Israel considers invalid after the fall of the former Syrian president.