Syria Slams U.S. Bid to Recognize Golan as Israeli-Occupied Territory

Date: 13 March 2019 - 21:48

News ID: ۶۴۲۱۵

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The Syrian government has lashed out at Senator Lindsey Graham, who said that the Golan Heights should remain part of the Israeli-occupied territories while taking a tour of the disputed region with Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. ambassador to the occupied territories David Friedman.
"These statements [by Senator Lindsay Graham] show the arrogant mentality of the U.S. administration, and that it views regional issues with Zionist eyes in a way which serves Israeli interests”, SANA quoted an unnamed official in the Syrian Foreign Ministry as saying.
The official went on to say that Graham’s remarks showed his ignorance of history and geography, as well as demonstrated Washington’s disregard for international law.
"All United Nations resolutions – particularly Security Council Resolution 497, adopted unanimously on 17 December 1981, affirm the legal status of the Syrian Golan as occupied territory, and declares Israel’s annexation of it as null and void”, the insider added.
Last month, Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton along with Rep. Mike Gallagher introduced a resolution to "ensure that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights”.
The Zionist regime seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.
In December 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the Zionist regime’s decision to extend its legislation on the Golan Heights as null and void, and urging the occupying regime to withdraw from the territory.
During the past few years, the Zionist regime has frequently attacked military targets in Syria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering heavy defeats against Syrian government forces.
Back in April 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially admitted for the first time that the regime's military had conducted strikes in Syrian territory.
Damascus says the Zionist regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding terrorist groups operating inside the Arab country, while the Tel Aviv regime's military carries out such sporadic strikes against Syrian government forces. The occupying regime has even set up field hospitals to treat wounded militants evacuated from Syria.