United Nations: In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Ahmad al-Sharaa said that Israel has carried out more than 500 air and artillery strikes on the country since he took power nearly two years ago. Israel has also carried out 1,200 land incursions and detained nearly 300 people, he said.
Al-Sharaa also condemned Israel's control over the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 West Asia war and annexed in 1981.
Al-Sharaa said the war had “come to an end,” the bloodshed and destruction had stopped, and Syria had begun “its journey of recovery and revival.”
In 2019, US President Donald Trump recognised Israeli sovereignty over the territory, reversing decades of US policy. The United Nations and most of the international community consider the territory to be occupied Syrian land and do not recognize Israel's annexation.
“No attempts at imposing a fait accompli can undermine the legitimacy of our state, the sovereignty of our law, or the force of international law,” al-Sharaa said. “The Golan will remain a Syrian land.”
He described Syria as “an international trade corridor by land, sea and air,” pointing to more than twenty thousand aircraft crossing its airspace in a single month.
The president also highlighted increased production and agricultural output, the reconstruction of schools, universities, and housing, and the safe and dignified return of 3.5 million refugees and internally displaced people. He said Syria had moved “from a crisis to an opportunity” and launched an initiative for a “Syria without refugee camps.”
Israel has occupied a portion of southern Syria since Assad was toppled, calling it a defensive move to prevent potential attacks on its territory.
Al-Sharaa said Syria is committed to a 1974 agreement that established a demilitarized separation zone between Israeli and Syrian forces, stationing a UN peacekeeping force there to maintain calm.
He called on Israeli forces to withdraw to the lines of Dec. 8, 2024, the day when insurgents he led removed longtime leader Bashar Assad from power and Israel began sending in forces.
Al-Sharaa said Syria would continue reconstruction and seek to become an international partner contributing to regional stability.(With agency inputs from Reuters and PTI)