Syria demands prompt measures to stop occupation land grab in Golan

Damascus – Foreign and Expatriates Ministry addressed two identical letters to the UN Secretary General and head of the UN Security Council complaining over Israel’s recent seizure of thousands of acres in the Syrian Golan.

Israel had appropriated thousands of acres in the occupied Syrian Golan as it anticipates the arrival of settlers to execute agricultural projects on the confiscated lands, according to SANA.

The ministry said that the Israeli land grab runs counter to international legitimacy resolutions, Geneva conventions and UN resolutions that declared Israel’s de facto laws, authority and administration in Golan as null and void and defined the inalienable rights of the Golan people to their natural resources, including land and water.

Israel, the letters added, established 750 new farms with each one extending over an area of 65 acres, bringing 90 Israeli families this year to live on the farms, with a plan to bring 150 families every year until the number reaches 750.

This, however, coincided with Israel stealing Golan water to irrigate the farms and oil exploration projects as drilling in the first exploration site is nearing completion, the letters added.

He letters indicated that the Israeli new measures come against a backdrop of human rights violations in Golan, citing Israel’s re-arrest of Sudki al-Makt and the arrest of Sheikh Atef Darwish from Bukaa’tha village and Fidaa Majed al-Sha’er from Majdal Shams.

The ministry concluded the letters by urging the UN Security Council to enforce its resolutions for halting Israel’s illegal practices in Golan, demanding Israel’s full withdrawal from Golan.

ST