Alwaght- The United Nations has underlined Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, rejecting a US congressional motion to recognize Israeli regime's annexation of the occupied territory.
“Obviously the Security Council is very clear that the Golan is Syrian territory, and the first aspect of [Resolution] 2254 is of course the territorial integrity of Syria,” UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen told reporters at a Security Council briefing on Syria held on Thursday in New York.
He made the comments in response to a question regarding a bill introduced by Republican members of the US congress which seeks to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
The measure, brought by Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton as well as Representative Mike Gallagher, cites concerns about what the lawmakers call a “threat” posed by Iran.
“The United States has been committed for over 40 years to ensuring Israel’s security from attacks emanating from across the Golan Heights,” the bill’s sponsors said Wednesday.
Israeli officials have long pushed for US recognition of the Tel Aviv regime’s sovereignty claims over the territory, which was seized from Syria in 1967.
Later in the month, the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution on the permanent sovereignty of Syria over natural resources of the Golan Heights.
The resolution reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan to sovereign over its natural resources, including land, water and energy.
Earlier this week, UN chief Antonio Guterres unveiled a report which accused Israel of burying radioactive nuclear waste in the Golan Heights.
Guterres submitted the report - which is based on Syria’s charges against Israel - to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at the panel's 40th session, which opened in Geneva Monday and will run through March 22.
