Golan Heights

UN adopts resolutions to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories and Syria’s Golan Heights

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Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

UN General Assembly. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The move came more than six decades after Israel occupied the concerned territories, and over two years after it started its all-out aggression across West Asia.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted two resolutions on Tuesday, December 2, demanding Israel withdraw from Palestinian and Syrian territories that it occupied in 1967. These territories include the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the besieged Gaza Strip, and Syria’s Golan Heights.

It is worth noting that the first resolution, which called for ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories passed with 151 votes in favor, 11 against, and 11 abstentions. Meanwhile, the second resolution on ending the occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights passed with 123 votes in favor, 7 against and 41 abstentions.

Annalena Baerbock: self-determination is “not a privilege to be earned, but a right to be upheld”

“For 78 years the Palestinian people have been denied their inalienable rights – in particular, their right to self-determination. Now, it is high time that we take decisive action to end this decades-long stalemate,” the President of the UNGA, Annalena Baerbock, stated at the 80th session, during which the resolutions were adopted.

Referring to Israel’s all-out multi-front war across West Asia, Baerbock pointed out that what happened during the last couple of years underscores the importance of the two-state solution to achieve “lasting peace”. A solution, which according to the UN senior official, should have been reached decades ago.

Baerbock emphasised that “self-determination, and the right to live in one’s own state in peace, security, and dignity, free from war, occupation and violence, is not a privilege to be earned, but a right to be upheld.”

UN considers Israel’s annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights as “null and void”

Regarding the Syrian Golan Heights, the resolution adopted by the UNGA considered the decision which Israel made on December 14, 1981 “to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan” as “null and void”, calling for its withdrawal.

The resolution demanded Israel “withdraw from all the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.”

The UNGA further resolved that Israel’s continued occupation and de facto annexation of the Syrian Golan constitute “a stumbling block in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.”

The United Nations Security Council had already unanimously adopted resolution 497 on December 17, 1981, deciding that the Israeli Golan Heights Law, based on which Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights, was “null and void and without international legal effect”. The resolution had also called on Israel to rescind its action.

UN resolutions are nominal when Israel is the aggressor

While the UNGA’s resolutions were welcomed by many states including the Palestinian Authority and Syria’s interim government, critics deemed the efforts as nominal, performative, and with a low likelihood of being implemented as long as the United States continues to support Israel unconditionally.

The multiple US vetoes of UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire during Israel’s genocidal aggression on Gaza, proves this particular argument.

Furthermore, many Palestinians still view the two-state solution as unfeasible and insufficient to address the inalienable Palestinian rights and demands, above all the right of return, and another way to recognize and cover the occupation.

This is reminiscent of late Palestinian writer and revolutionary leader Ghassan Kanafani when he said:

“They steal your bread, then give you a crumb of it. Then they demand you thank them for their generosity. O their audacity!”

Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingUN adopts resolutions to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories and Syria’s Golan Heights

Netanyahu Moves to Expand Illegal Israeli Settlements in Syrian Golan Heights

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Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Israeli troops and military vehicles cross in and out of Syria through a gate in the boundary fence near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on December 15, 2024. (Photo: Mati Milstein/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the plan as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would move to expand settlements in the occupied and illegally annexed Golan Heights, exploiting the collapse of the Assad government to further entrench its control of Syrian land.

Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday that “strengthening” the Golan Heights is synonymous with “strengthening the state of Israel” and declared that “we will continue to hold onto it, make it flourish, and settle in it.”

According to Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli government “unanimously approved” the prime minister’s push to double the settler population in the Golan Heights.

There are currently dozens of Israeli settlements housing roughly 20,000 people in the territory, the bulk of which Israel unlawfully annexed in 1981 after occupying it during the 1967 war.

Israel’s settlement expansion plan sparked outrage from countries in the region, with Turkey’s foreign ministry condemning the decision Sunday as “a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation.”

The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia accused Israel of “sabotaging” Syria’s “prospects for restoring its security and stability.”

“The kingdom reaffirms that the occupied Golan is Syrian, Arab land,” the ministry added.

Israel’s military has wasted no time advancing on Syrian territory in the wake of Assad’s fall. As Drop Site noted over the weekend, “Israeli tanks have advanced into villages and towns in Syria’s Quneitra governorate, across from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, damaging streets, cutting down trees, and destroying electricity poles.”

“Israel ordered residents to evacuate their homes. When many refused, Israeli forces destroyed water supply networks and power lines in an attempt to force them out,” the outlet added.

On Saturday, as The Guardian reported, “Israel struck dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes” after the Israeli defense minister announced the country’s forces “would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon—known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh—in positions they occupied last week.”

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the rebel group that helped drive Assad from power, denounced Israel’s “uncalculated military adventures” but said that “the priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”

“Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations,” he said.

Israel’s push for settlement expansion in the Golan Heights comes amid the country’s large-scale, catastrophic assault on the Gaza Strip, which Israeli forces are preparing to occupy indefinitely.

President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States is expected to embolden the far-right forces in Netanyahu’s government that are seeking to return settlements to Gaza and annex the West Bank.

Netanyahu said in a video statement that he had “a very friendly, warm, and important discussion” with Trump late Saturday about the future of the Middle East.

“I said we would change the Middle East and we are doing so,” the prime minister said. “I discussed with President-elect Trump the need to complete the victory.”

Original article by Jake Johnson republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingNetanyahu Moves to Expand Illegal Israeli Settlements in Syrian Golan Heights

Israel expands military operations in Syria under pretext of creating ‘sterile zone’

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https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241211-israel-expands-military-operations-in-syria-under-pretext-of-creating-sterile-zone

The Israeli army reinforces its air and ground forces in the Golan Heights in response to ongoing situation in Syria on December 06, 2024, in Israel [Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – Anadolu Agency]

Israel has launched an extensive military campaign in Syria, conducting over 350 air strikes and seizing territory beyond the illegally occupied Golan Heights, in what Defence Minister Israel Katz describes as an effort to create a “sterile defensive area” along the border.

The occupation forces reported that their fighter jets have carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria over the past 48 hours, targeting what they claim are strategic weapons stockpiles in major cities including Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra. The offensive has included attacks on Syria’s naval bases, with Katz boasting about destroying Syria’s modest navy “with great success”.

The Israeli army told journalists yesterday that it had completed the main part of its aggressive military campaign against Syria since the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime, targeting the military capabilities of the Syrian state. The occupation regime claimed that it had destroyed between 70 and 80 per cent of these capabilities.

The military escalation marks Israel’s most significant incursion into Syrian territory since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. According to diplomatic sources, Israeli forces have moved “men and material” into the demilitarised buffer zone since 7 December, positioning troops and armoured vehicles near seven abandoned Syrian military posts.

The expansion has drawn sharp international criticism. Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks, stating that, “Israel is again displaying its occupier mentality.” The UN, through its spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, expressed firm opposition to any violation of Syria’s territorial integrity, emphasising that, “This is a turning point for Syria. It should not be used by its neighbours to encroach on the territory of Syria.”

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen warned that Israel’s actions could undermine prospects for peaceful transition in the already fragile state. “We need to see a stop to the Israeli attacks,” insisted Pedersen. “It’s extremely important that we don’t see any action from any international actor that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.”

Critics have pointed out the apparent contradiction in Israel’s strategy of protecting a buffer zone by creating another buffer zone, particularly given that Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights since 1967 remains unrecognised by the international community. Despite this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that, “The Golan Heights will be an inseparable part of the state of Israel forever.”

The US stressed its support for Israeli military operations despite growing opposition. There has been a significant shift in American public opinion, with an increasing number of voters expressing concern about US power being employed primarily to serve Israeli interests rather than America’s. This “America First” sentiment has gained particular traction with those who question why US diplomatic, military and financial resources are being committed extensively to support Israel’s regional ambitions.

This debate has intensified following former General Wesley Clark’s 2001 revelation that the US had planned to topple seven regimes in the region to secure Israeli hegemony, including Syria. The admission has fuelled criticism that US foreign policy in the Middle East has prioritised Israel’s strategic objectives over America’s national interests, leading to calls for a fundamental reassessment of the US-Israel relationship.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Israel advances in Syria with blessing of US

Continue ReadingIsrael expands military operations in Syria under pretext of creating ‘sterile zone’

US Bombs Over 75 Targets in Syria After Assad Falls

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

F-15 fighters escort a U.S. B-52 bomber in this August 31, 2021 photo. (Photo: Japan Air Self-Defense Force/U.S. Indo-Pacific Command/flickr/cc)

“The Western press are waxing lyrical about the new Syria being born—but not a word on the U.S. and Israeli bombs falling from the sky,” said Yanis Varoufakis.A-10 ground attack aircraft

U.S. military forces launched dozens of airstrikes on more than 75 Islamic State targets in Syria on Sunday after the fall of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and amid ongoing Israeli and Turkish attacks on the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), warplanes including B-52 bombers, F-15 fighters, and A-10 ground attack aircraft “conducted dozens of precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria.”

CENTCOM called the strikes “part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.”

The U.S., “together with allies and partners in the region, will continue to carry out operations to degrade ISIS operational capabilities even during this dynamic period in Syria,” CENTCOM added.

“The Biden administration ordering ongoing airstrikes is a disappointing sign that they have no intent on reversing their deadly policy of interventionism.”

Responding Monday to the latest attacks on Syria by U.S. forces, Danaka Katovich, national co-director of the peace group CodePink, told Common Dreams: “We condemn the U.S. airstrikes in Syria. The U.S. has sowed chaos in Syria and the entire region for years and the Biden administration ordering ongoing airstrikes is a disappointing sign that they have no intent on reversing their deadly policy of interventionism.”

U.S. and coalition forces have killed and maimed at least tens of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis during the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations as part of the anti-ISIS campaign and wider so-called War on Terror.

Commenting on the dearth of coverage of the strikes by the corporate media, prominent Greek leftist Yanis Varoufakis said on social media that “the Western press are waxing lyrical about the new Syria being born—but not a word on the U.S. and Israeli bombs falling from the sky.”

“Is there no bottom to the moral void of the Western press?” he added.

Sunday’s U.S. strikes came as al-Assad and relatives fled to Russia—where they have been granted asylum—amid the fall of the capital, Damascus, to rebel forces.

Also on Sunday, Israeli forces seized more territory in Syria’s Golan Heights and ordered residents of five villages to “stay home and not go out until further notice” if they want to remain safe. Israel conquered the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights in 1967 and has unlawfully occupied it ever since. In 1981, Israel illegally annexed the occupied lands.

“We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza—said in a video posted on social media.

Numerous Israelis celebrated the seizure on social media, while others cautioned against boasting about what is almost certainly an illegal conquest.

https://twitter.com/WharfRat_DE/status/1866116193771291096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1866116193771291096%7Ctwgr%5Ee770ed2ba1900981f5f8655bf89a951e783a93fe%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fus-bombs-syria-again

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Meanwhile in northern Syria, Turkish airstrikes in support of Syrian National Army rebels—who are battling U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in and around the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij—reportedly killed numerous civilians along with dozens of militants.

In what it called a “horrific massacre,” the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday that 11 civilians from the same family, including women and six children, were killed in a Turkish drone strike on the SDF-controlled village of Al-Mustariha in northern Raqqa Governate.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingUS Bombs Over 75 Targets in Syria After Assad Falls

Israel warned against invasion of Syria as it joins US in bombing country

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israel-warned-against-invasion-syria-it-joins-us-bombing-country

Israeli soldiers sit on top of a tank along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams

ISRAEL was condemned today for its invasion of Syria in the wake of the fall of its president, Bashar al-Assad, as the United States joined Tel Aviv in widespread bombing of targets within the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights, established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.

…

Stop the War vice-chairman Chris Nineham told the Morning Star: “We condemn the bombing of various sites in Syria.

“Not content with conducting genocide in Gaza, Israel, the US’s main ally in the Middle East, is contributing to the growing chaos and instability in the region.”

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israel-warned-against-invasion-syria-it-joins-us-bombing-country

Continue ReadingIsrael warned against invasion of Syria as it joins US in bombing country