Sabbagh: Israel’s practices towards the people in occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan are grave violations of international law
Israel’s continuous occupation of Arab lands and its aggressive practices towards the people in occupied Palestine and the Syrian Golan are grave violations of the international law, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bassam Sabbagh has stressed, calling on the UN Security Council not to keep silent and to urgently assume its responsibilities towards stopping the repeated Isareli attacks on the Syrian sovereignty.
Sabbagh made the remarks during a Security Council meeting held on Friday to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian cause.
“Our right to restore the entire occupied Syrian Golan to the June 4th 1967 line is an inalienable right that never accepts bargaining or pressure and it has no time limit. This right is guaranteed by the international law and the relevant UN resolutions, particularly the Security Council Resolution No. 497 of 1981,” Sabbagh said.
He criticized some countries double standard policies and their silence over the Israeli occupation’s decision to annex the Syrian Golan and its refusal to implement Resolution No. 497 which has considered Israel’s annexation decision as null and void and of no legal effect.
“Since 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities in the Syrian Golan have committed grave violations of human rights and of the international humanitarian law. They have also been involved in the terrorist war on Syria since 2011 by supporting the terrorist groups, mainly ISIS and Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra terror organization,” Sabbagh added.
“The Israeli occupation forces have launched repeated and direct attacks on Syrian territories with the aim of weakening the Syrian army’s ability to fight these terrorist organizations. Recently, the Israeli forces intentionally and systematically targeted civilian facilities in Syria, including ports and airports, endangering the lives of civilians and impeding the delivery of UN humanitarian aid,” he went on to say.
He called on the Security Council to act immediately as to stop the Israeli repeated attacks on Syria and to hold the occupation authorities accountable for their crimes and aggressive practices which pose a threat to regional and international peace and security, affirming that Syria will practice its legitimate right to defend its land and citizens in all possible means.
Sabbagh also criticized the European Union’s attempt to divert the attention of the Security Council away from its main goal in this session, which is exposing the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Arab lands, by imposing some Syrian issues that have nothing to do with the topic of the session.
He said that the European Union keeps silent when it comes to condemning the repeated Israeli attacks on Syria’s sovereignty and vital civil facilities, while it raises its voice to stress its determination to extend its illegal and inhuman economic blockade on the Syrian people and to prolong the crisis in Syria in complete disregard to the blockade’s catastrophic impacts and to the UN Chief’s calls for lifting such coercive measures.
The Syrian diplomat expressed his astonishment over the insistence of the UN Envoy for the Middle East Tor Wennesland on ignoring the Israeli violations in the occupied Syrian Golan and the Israeli continuous attacks on the Syrian sovereignty.
He clarified that some countries’ continuous support for the Israeli aggressive practices makes them involved in these violations and exposes these countries’ double standard policies.
Sabbagh reaffirmed Syria’s firm support for the Palestinian people’s struggle to liberate their occupied land and establish their independent sovereign state with Al-Quds as its capital and for the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland in accordance with the international law and the relevant UN resolutions.
Syria also support Palestine’s efforts to become a full-fledged member of the UN, he stressed.
Hamda Mustafa