Qatar condemns Israel’s grab of Syria buffer zone

ISTANBUL

Qatar on Tuesday renewed its condemnation of Israel’s seizure of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.

"Israel's exploitation of the current situation in Syria to occupy its lands in violation of a sovereign state is unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

“Qatar supports Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and endorses its aspirations to protect the interests of its people,” he added.

The spokesman said that participants in last week’s Doha Forum warned that the ongoing Syrian crisis “poses a serious threat to its integrity as well as to regional and international security."

"Qatar's role in Syria is determined by our Syrian brothers, and we are in contact with all parties there,” Ansari said.

"No external agendas should be imposed on the Syrian people, who have fought for their freedom,” he added.

The Israeli army captured the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, hours after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the territory in a move never recognized by the international community.

As for the Gaza cease-fire negotiations, the Qatari spokesman said that the lack of seriousness was the cause of the stalemate in the talks.

"Qatar has not abandoned its mediation efforts on this matter," he said. “Communications are ongoing, but it is too early to discuss any developments."

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last October, killing nearly 44,800 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 106,000.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala