Damascus says the Golan is Syrian land and must be fully restored

Syria’s representative to the UN Security Council, Ibrahim Al-Olabi, said on Tuesday that the occupied Golan is Syrian land, stressing that his country has the right to recover it in full from Israel.

The Syrian state broadcaster Al-Ikhbariyah quoted him as saying: “Our talks with Israel were held under the follow-up of the US President Donald Trump to address the security concerns of both sides.”

He added that Syria gives priority to peaceful and diplomatic approaches, and noted that “these talks with Israel do not in any way discuss the future of the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The delegate underlined that “the occupied Syrian Golan is Arab Syrian land, and our country has every right to restore it completely.”

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Israel has occupied the Golan since 1967. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, Israeli forces expanded into the buffer zone and Mount Hermon in southern Syria, declaring the collapse of the disengagement agreement that had been in place since 1967.

In recent months, indirect Syrian–Israeli talks were held in an attempt to reach a security arrangement to stop Israeli attacks on Damascus. However, no agreement was reached because Israel refused to withdraw from areas it occupied after Assad’s fall on 8 December 2024.

Although Trump urged Israel to ease tensions with Syria, Israeli forces continued actions that Syria views as violations of its sovereignty, including airstrikes and near-daily incursions.

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