The Golan Heights. Israeli troops have secured some sites after the fall of the Syrian regime. Picture: Twitter / X
Israel must withdraw from the Golan Heights and end airstrikes in Syria, says United Nations chief Antonio Guterres.
The UN Secretary-General said in a statement on Thursday (US time) that he was “deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Since fighters led by the terrorist-designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group took control of Damascus on Sunday, Israeli forces reportedly occupied an abandoned Syrian military post overlooking the city in the Golan border region and other areas.
The UN Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, was established in May 1974 to maintain a ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces and supervise a separation zone.
Israeli forces not only moved into the zone but carried out airstrikes against weapons stockpiles, military facilities and airfields, and bombed naval vessels off the Syrian coast.
“The secretary-general is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria,” the statement said, calling for urgent de-escalation “on all fronts, throughout Syria”.
The UN says many parts of Syria are not under the control of HTS; several armed groups occupy territory in the south, far north and north-east, where Kurdish fighters reportedly captured the town of Deir-ez-Zor.
Islamic State affiliated groups also maintain a foothold in central Syria, where US warplanes have targeted them.
Meanwhile, the collapse of former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime reportedly unveiled industrial-scale export of the banned drug captagon.
Islamist-led fighters are said to have seized military bases and distribution hubs for the amphetamine-type stimulant, which flooded the black market across the Middle East.
The rebels say they found a vast haul of drugs and vowed to destroy them, according to media reports.
Syria’s interim government also vowed to institute the “rule of law” as G7 powers push for an inclusive transition of government.
Syrians across the country and around the world erupted in celebration after the end of an era during which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed and nearly 14 years of war that killed 500,000 people and displaced millions.
