The Syrian Foreign Ministry has welcomed growing international backing for a UN General Assembly resolution demanding Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights.
On Tuesday evening, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to leave the Syrian Golan, with 123 countries voting in favour, seven against – including Israel and the US – and 41 abstaining. Damascus described the support as “strong backing for a new Syria.”
The resolution reaffirms the illegality of Israel’s occupation and its 1981 annexation of the territory, which was captured from Syria during the 1967 war. The annexation is recognised by Washington but rejected by the overwhelming majority of the international community.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said the vote “clearly supports Syria’s position because the resolution describes Israel’s continued occupation of the Golan as an obstacle to achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region.”
Support for Syria’s territorial integrity increased from 97 votes last year to 123 this year, which the ministry said reflects “the scale of broad international support for the new Syria and its principled national stance on the occupied Golan.”
Damascus added that the outcome demonstrates the “intensive diplomatic efforts” of Syria’s new government, noting that the resolution calls on Israel to withdraw to the 4 June 1967 lines and reaffirms the international law principle that territory cannot be acquired by force.
Syria also reiterated its rejection of Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Golan. Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 Israelis currently live in around 30 settlements built on the plateau.
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The resolution further notes that Israel has not complied with UN Security Council Resolution 497 (1981), which declared Israel’s annexation of the Golan “null and void” and demanded its rescission. Egypt originally submitted this year’s resolution, drawing “deep gratitude” from Damascus.
Israeli incursions into Syria
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and expanded its control further into Syrian territory after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, seizing areas including the entirety of Jabal al-Sheikh, a strategic mountain overlooking northern Israel and southern Syria.
Over the past year, Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian territory despite Damascus maintaining that it is not seeking confrontation with the occupying Zionist entity.
Last Friday, 28 November, Israeli forces killed 13 people in an overnight raid in southern Syria – one of the deadliest Israeli operations in the country in recent years, with children among the dead. The IDF said the raid targeted militants allegedly “advancing terror attacks against Israeli civilians,” reportedly members of Jamaa Islamiya.
Israel is also seeking to establish a demilitarised buffer zone stretching from Damascus to Jabal al-Sheikh, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushing for an agreement with the Syrian government.
“We hold these areas in order to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens, and that is what obligates us,” Netanyahu said, adding that an agreement was possible “with goodwill and an understanding of these principles.”
Israel and Syria have been engaged in talks for months, but Israeli media report that negotiations between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Netanyahu have stalled over Israel’s refusal to withdraw from territory it seized last year.
