Ambassador Al-Dahhak: Israeli  occupation escalates attacks on countries of the region because Washington prevented any serious move to stop these crimes

Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Qusay Al-Dahhak stressed that the Israeli occupation has escalated its barbaric attacks on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria because it is reassured that a permanent member of the Security Council (U.S.) stands by it and prevents any serious move to stop its crimes.

Below is the full speech delivered on Wednesday by Ambassador Al-Dahhak during a Security Council session on the political and humanitarian affairs in Syria:

For more than seven decades, our region has been suffering from the ongoing Israeli occupation of Arab lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and the brutal attacks and systematic crimes that the occupation authorities have been committing. Our region also suffers from Western policies that support “Israel” at the expense of the security and stability of our countries and the lives and well-being of their people. Here, it’s noteworthy that the correct diagnosis is the first step to dealing with and addressing any problem. Naturally, the wrong diagnosis and turning a blind eye to the essence of a problem leads to its exacerbation, prolongation and increasing the difficulty of solving it. For seven decades the holding of  hundreds of meetings, initiatives and conferences and the adoption of resolutions failed to find the solutions that the region needs because some in this Council have directed their utmost efforts and continue to do so to serve the Israeli occupation and prolong its duration. Rather, they have been directly involved in targeting countries and people struggling to liberate their occupied territories and restore their legitimate rights preserved by international law and international legitimacy resolutions.

The Israeli occupation continues its genocide in the Palestinian territories, its aggression against Lebanon, and its repeated attacks on Syria. Whenever world public opinion believes that it has witnessed the highest level of brutality and barbarism, the occupation authorities outdo themselves and escalate their barbaric attacks, reassured that in this Council there is a permanent member state that has chosen to stand on the wrong side of history, and to prevent any serious and decisive movement to stop the aggression, save lives, and alleviate suffering.

Two days ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in which he briefed him on the Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, which have reached 116 attacks since October 7, 2023, during which the occupation targeted innocent civilians, including women and children, production and service facilities, infrastructure, and even diplomatic headquarters, and border crossings used daily by thousands of people coming from Lebanon. These attacks led to the death of more than 100 martyrs and inflicted material losses and significant damage to private and public property.

Syria calls on the Security Council to take immediate action and take firm measures to stop these attacks, hold the occupying entity accountable for them and ensure that they are not repeated, and stresses its right to defend its people and land by all means guaranteed by international law.

Syria continues to do its utmost to receive the Lebanese brothers and the Syrian returnees from Lebanon, whose number has reached nearly 500,000 to date, and it provides them with all the necessary services despite the serious challenges it faces as a result of terrorism and acts of aggression, the illegal foreign military presence and its plundering of national wealth, and the inhumane unilateral coercive measures.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have returned to their homeland, and their entry has been facilitated regardless of the way they left, and the official documents and proofs they possess. In cooperation with partners, primarily civil society organizations, health, psychological and social support services have been provided to them. The recent number of Syrian returnees to their homeland exceeding 300,000 clearly proves the falsity of Western claims about the issue of return, and confirms that the main obstacle limiting return rates is the decline in economic and living conditions, and the lack of basic services, as a result of the unilateral coercive measures targeting all Syrians, the politicization of humanitarian work, the withholding of funding and the reluctance to support sustainable solutions, to enhance early recovery and livelihood projects, and to fulfill the pledges announced. The level of funding for the humanitarian response plan has not exceeded 26 percent to date, and the year is almost over.

Syria recently received the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who witnessed the great efforts made by Syria to deal with the worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, and the facilities provided to the returnees. Syria looks forward to the response of the member states of the United Nations to the appeals issued by the organization’s representatives and agencies to support our joint efforts in the humanitarian response. The terrorism that Syria faces was and still is a form of Israeli aggression against Syria, and an extension of the terrorism that the Palestinian people are exposed to by the occupation authorities.

Syria stresses its right and duty to eliminate terrorism, and holds the US administration and its allies fully responsible for investing in terrorism and employing it as a tool to serve its interests and the interests of the Israeli occupation entity, and for the crimes of terrorist organizations against Syrians, including women, girls and children.

Syria warns that these policies, and attempts to whitewash the image of terrorist organizations and polish their image, increase the risks of spreading extremist ideology and the gravity of the threat that terrorism poses to the security and stability of Syria, the region and the world.

My country remains committed to cooperating with the Special Envoy in line with his mandate as facilitator of a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led process, and in light of full commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and looks forward to convene the ninth round of the Constitutional Committee.

Inas Abdulkareem