Syria requests urgent UNSC meeting over Golan

CAIRO – 28 March 2019: Syria has asked the UN Security Council on Tuesday to hold an urgent meeting on the US decision to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

On March 23, the US-backed fighters in Syria have declared military victory over ISIS, ending a four-year battle against the group that once held territory spanning a third of Syria and Iraq.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday in which the US recognized Israel’s annexation of the strategic plateau, despite UN resolutions that call for Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan.

In a letter, the Syrian mission to the UN asked the council presidency, held by France, to schedule an urgent meeting to “discuss the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan and the recent flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council’s resolution by a permanent member-state.”

The French presidency did not immediately schedule the meeting and diplomats said there would be a discussion at the council about the request.

On Friday, Syria wrote a separate letter urging the council to uphold resolutions demanding that Israel withdraw from the Golan.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, “Egypt's stance is consistent towards the Golan Heights, which are considered an occupied Arab land under international legitimacy resolutions.”