Syria slams US' 'persistent' support for Israel occupation 

The Syrian Foreign Ministry yesterday rejected US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks about the Israeli occupied Syrian Golan Heights and described them as an extension of Washington’s support for Israel’s ongoing occupation and aggression.

On Monday, Blinken said that “as a practical matter, Israel has control of the Golan Heights, irrespective of its legal status, and that will have to remain unless and until things get to a point where Syria and everything operating out from Syria no longer poses a threat to Israel, and we are not anywhere near that.”

Responding to Blinken’s remarks, a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry said: “The Syrian Arab Republic absolutely rejects the statements of the US Secretary of State regarding the occupied Syrian Golan which come in the context of the persistent American support for the Israeli occupation entity and its ongoing aggression.”

The source added that it had become “clear to the whole world that the usurping Israeli entity and its policy of expansion and aggression are the main reason for the tensions and instability in the region”, stressing that the Syrian nation has “a legitimate right” to resist Israel’s expansionist behaviour.

In February, Blinken expressed “reservations” about supporting the administration of former US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights, angering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed the occupied Syrian Golan “was and will remain part of Israel”.

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