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UN says Golan status not changed as Trump recognises Israeli claim

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UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “clear that the status of Golan has not changed,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday after US President Donald Trump recognised the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.


“The UN’s policy on Golan is reflected in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and that policy has not changed,” Dujarric said. Israel seized the strategic land from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.


A UN Security Council resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-member body in 1981 declared that Israel’s “decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect.” It also demanded Israel rescind its decision.


Earlier, President Trump signed a proclamation recognising Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights in an event on Monday at the White House attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


“This was a long time in the making. Should have taken place many decades ago,” Trump said as he signed the presidential proclamation.


Israel seized the strategic Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.


Trump also declared that the relationship between the two nations has “never been stronger,” and insisted the move on the Golan would bolster Israel’s security.


The Syrian government said that Washington’s decision over the Golan Heights was a blatant attack on its sovereignty. The move, which breaks with decades of international consensus, drew criticism from the Syrian government.


“In a blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, the president of the US has recognised the annexation of the Syrian Golan,” a foreign ministry source said, according to state news agency Sana. — Agencies


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