Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Syria’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned an “illegal” visit by senior Israeli officials to the country’s southern region, calling it a serious violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Syrian authorities described the visit, which included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and Army Chief Eyal Zamir, as “a new attempt to impose a fait accompli” in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The statement emphasized that any Israeli actions in southern Syria are “null and void” under international law and reiterated Syria’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from its territory.
Syria also called on the international community to curb Israeli activities in the region and to pressure Israel to return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. “Syria will continue to defend its sovereignty and its rights until every inch of its land is restored,” the statement added.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu visited the Israeli-controlled buffer zone in southern Syria on Wednesday, a move that coincided with the cancellation of a court session in his corruption trial for “security reasons.”
Israel expanded its control over the Golan Heights following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in late 2024, seizing the demilitarized buffer zone in apparent violation of the 1974 agreement. Syrian authorities say Israeli incursions into the south have increased over the past year, with reports of farmland seizures, forest destruction, civilian arrests, and new military checkpoints. Since December 2024, Syria claims Israel has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes and more than 400 cross-border raids in the southern region.
