Israel's occupation of Golan Heights destabilizes security: UN Human Rights official

GENEVA / ISTANBUL

Israel’s occupation of Golan heights destabilizes the security situation in Syria, said a UN Human Rights Office spokesman.

Thameen Al-Kheetan told Anadolu that Israel violates 1974 disengagement agreement by occupying areas beyond Golan buffer zone and it plans to “double the population of settlers in the Occupied Golan Heights.”

Israel’s occupation and plans “undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and can potentially further destabilize an already fragile security situation,” the spokesman said.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria. It also intensified airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions across the country.

Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the UN and several Arab nations.