NEW YORK: The UN Security Council on Tuesday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that the annexed Golan Heights in Syria would “forever” remain under Israeli control.

The 15-member council agreed that the status of the Golan, which Israel snatched from Syria in 1967, “remains unchanged,” said Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds this month’s council presidency.

Liu recalled a 1981 resolution which states that Israel’s “decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was null and void and without any international legal effect.”

The council statement followed remarks made by Netanyahu earlier this month when his Cabinet held its first meeting in the territory.

“The Golan Heights will remain in the hands of Israel forever,” Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, held amid fears that Israel could come under pressure to return the Golan as part of a future peace deal for Syria.

“Israel will never withdraw from the Golan Heights.”

Council members “expressed deep concern” over the Israeli statements and “stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged,” said Liu.

The Arab League and the European Union have also criticized Netanyahu over the remarks.

Israel usurped 1,200 sq. km of the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 in a move never recognized by the international community.