Syria reasserts its right to restore its sovereignty over Israeli-occupied Golan

Undated picture shows Israeli forces walking past tanks in Syria's Tel Aviv-occupied Golan Heights. (Photo by Reuters)

Syria has reasserted its "inalienable right" to restore its sovereignty to the Israeli-occupied Syrian territory of the Golan Heights, denouncing the US's support for the regime that has emboldened it to prolong the occupation.

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Haider Ali Ahmed made the remarks, addressing a session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in the Middle East, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Wednesday.

The Israeli regime seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has been using the region as a launch pad for its military operations against the Arab country.

Syrian UN ambassador: Our right to retake Israeli-occupied Golan Heights is inalienable, non-negotiable

"Israel commits a war crime by building colonies and settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, and its colonization plans have witnessed an escalation since the end of 2021, when it announced the doubling of the number of settlers in the Golan over a period of five years," the Syrian envoy said.

Ahmed also pointed to a plan by the occupying regime to install wind turbines in Golan, saying the scheme proved Tel Aviv's intransigence in keeping up its colonial and racist practices in the Syrian territory.

"The time has come to start taking concrete steps to put an end to the Israeli regime's occupation of Arab lands, which comes as a result of the support that the US and other countries provide to the Israeli occupation entity," added the Syrian diplomat.

The United States has proven the Israeli regime's biggest and most dedicated ally since 1948, when the regime claimed existence after occupying huge expanses of regional territories during a similar war.

With a cast-iron resolve, Washington has invariably provided sustained arms, logistical, and political support for Tel Aviv that has encouraged it to sustain the occupation and keep up its near-daily deadly crimes against the peoples of the occupied territories, foremost among them the Palestinians.

The Syrian official said the US's continuing to provide this support despite the horrible crimes served as the greatest evidence of Washington's contempt for the provisions of international law, the United Nations Charter, and international resolutions.