NEW YORK: Arab states used a UN Security Council session on Thursday to demand firm international action against Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, with Turkiye and the US also voicing concern over the escalation.
Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, Qatar’s permanent representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, told the UNSC that the bloc “strongly condemns Israeli airstrikes targeting the Abu Al-Duhur military airport in northwestern Syria,” calling them “a serious escalation and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty, security, stability and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
The group said Israel’s “continued violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity risks increasing tensions, undermining regional peace and stability, and eroding respect for international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
It called on the international community “to take a firm, clear and principled position in the face of the ongoing aggression against Syria,” urging concrete steps under international law and the UN Charter to end the violations, ensure full respect for the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Syrian territory.
The Arab Group also reaffirmed that the Golan Heights is occupied Arab territory, and that Israel’s imposition of its laws and administration there is “null and void,” and in violation of UNSC Resolution 497 of 1981.
The group welcomed the Syrian government’s progress on transitional justice and the return of refugees and displaced people, and called for expanded international support for host states and for reconstruction.
It also welcomed the US decision to lift Syria’s terrorism-sponsor designation “47 years after its designation,” calling it “a positive development that supports efforts to achieve stability in Syria and the region.”
Turkiye’s permanent representative, Ahmet Yildiz, said Israel “continues to undermine this positive trajectory through its reckless attacks and destabilizing actions against Syria,” citing the recent Abu Al-Duhur strikes as “yet another example.”
He added that Turkiye condemns Israel’s “relentless attacks targeting Syria’s infrastructure and capabilities in blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and that strengthening Syria’s national capabilities “is a sovereign right” that “does not constitute a threat to any country.”
Yildiz said attempts to obstruct Syria’s efforts to rebuild its security capacity “would only risk creating conditions conducive to the resurgence of terrorist organizations such as Daesh.”
He reiterated Turkiye’s call for Israel to comply fully with the 1974 disengagement agreement, halt escalatory actions and reverse its encroachments, urging the UNSC to “use all means at its possible disposal to bring an end to Israel’s aggression against Syria and its occupation of Syrian territory.”
Yildiz also welcomed the recent visit of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Damascus, and Syria’s cooperation with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Ankara’s military cooperation with Damascus is conducted “with the consent of the Syrian government,” he said.
US Deputy Ambassador Tammy Bruce called Washington’s rescinding of Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism “a historic milestone” reflecting political, humanitarian and security progress.
She said lifting US restrictions would help unlock trade and investment for Syria’s rebuilding, and pointed to the July 17 announcement by Baghdad and Damascus to rehabilitate the Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline as a step toward regional economic integration.
Bruce called on “both Israel and Syria to seek de-escalation” in the aftermath of the Abu Al-Duhur strikes, saying Washington would continue engaging both countries and regional stakeholders toward dialogue.
