Israeli PM Netanyahu says occupied Golan Heights Israeli 'for eternity'
Netanyahu said that Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights 'ensures our security and sovereignty'.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
09 December, 2024
Netanyahu thanked US President-elect Donald Trump for recognising Israel's 1981 annexation of the territory [Getty]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, would remain Israeli "for eternity".
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu thanked US President-elect Donald Trump for recognising Israel's 1981 annexation of the territory during his first term and said "the Golan will be part of the State of Israel for eternity".
Israel captured most of the mountainous plateau from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and has occupied it ever since, repelling a Syrian attempt at reconquest in the 1973 war.
Netanyahu said that Israeli control of the high ground "ensures our security and sovereignty".
Over the weekend, he ordered troops to occupy UN-patrolled buffer zone and beyond, after Syrian rebels toppled president Bashar al-Assad.
The United Nations and Israel's neighbours denounced the move, with a UN spokesman on Monday saying Israel's actions were "a violation" of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that the collapse of the Assad government and the Syrian army abandoning its posts had invalidated the agreement.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday said the takeover of the buffer zone was "a limited and temporary step we took for security reasons".
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller voiced understanding of Israel's actions which, he said, "are not permanent" and "ultimately, what we want to see is lasting stability between Israel and Syria, and that means we support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement."
The UN peacekeepers told Israel their activity in the occupied Golan Heights breaches the 1974 disengagement pact between Israel and Syria, spokesperson Stephen Dujarric said, urging both countries to uphold the terms of the agreement.
Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles line near the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the fence with the buffer zone that separates the occupied Golan Heights from Syria.
Photo: AFP
The UN has warned that Israeli military activity along the Golan Heights buffer zone in Syria "would constitute a violation" of a 1974 pact on disengagement between Israel and Syria.
Told of the Israeli plans, UN peacekeepers "informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference on Monday.
Stating that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has seen "unidentified armed individuals that have been manning checkpoints in the area of operations," Dujarric said UNDOF can also confirm that the Israeli army personnel "entered the area of separation and have been moving within that area where they remain in at least three locations throughout the area of separation."
Dujarric reported that the Israeli army said it "would enter that area as a 'temporary defensive measure' to prevent it from being occupied by non-state armed groups. The Israelis also told our UNDOF colleagues that it reserved the right to take any action against any threat against the state of Israel," he said.
"The peacekeepers in UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation" of the 1974 agreement, he said, adding: "Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement and preserve stability."
The UN has warned that Israeli military activity along the Golan Heights buffer zone in Syria "would constitute a violation" of a 1974 pact on disengagement between Israel and Syria.
Told of the Israeli plans, UN peacekeepers "informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference on Monday.
Stating that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has seen "unidentified armed individuals that have been manning checkpoints in the area of operations," Dujarric said UNDOF can also confirm that the Israeli army personnel "entered the area of separation and have been moving within that area where they remain in at least three locations throughout the area of separation."
Dujarric reported that the Israeli army said it "would enter that area as a 'temporary defensive measure' to prevent it from being occupied by non-state armed groups. The Israelis also told our UNDOF colleagues that it reserved the right to take any action against any threat against the state of Israel," he said.
"The peacekeepers in UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation" of the 1974 agreement, he said, adding: "Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement and preserve stability."
'Limited and temporary' actions
In a letter addressed to the presidency of the UN Security Council, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon claimed that the Israeli army "assisted" UNDOF in repelling an attack from armed groups entering the area of separation.
"In response to this evolving security threat and the danger posed by it to Israel – particularly to the residents of the Golan Heights – Israel has taken limited and temporary measures to counter any further threat to its citizens," he said, adding that Israeli army has been "temporarily" deployed to several points in the area of separation as part of its security measures.
Danon added that the Israeli army "will continue to act as necessary in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens."
On Sunday, the Israeli army imposed "closed military zones" in Syria's occupied Golan Heights following the sudden fall of the Assad regime.
In response to military concerns about the potential infiltration of armed groups, the Israeli army deployed additional forces along the buffer zone separating Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.
Disengagement agreement
Signed on May 31, 1974, the agreement stipulates Israel's withdrawal from all of the areas of Mount Hermon it had occupied during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, as well as an area of about 25 square kilometres that included Quneitra and other locations.
The agreement defines the current border between Israel and Syria along with the accompanying military arrangements, creating two separation lines – Israeli (blue) and Syrian (red) – with a buffer zone between them.
The agreement is monitored by the UNDOF, as it is tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria following the 1973 war.
Since 1974, UNDOF has patrolled the buffer zone between the Israeli and Syrian-controlled zones.
Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the territory in a move never recognised by the international community.
SOURCE: AA
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