ISTANBUL 

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani accused Israel on Monday of violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement by establishing intelligence facilities and military posts in demilitarized areas to advance its “expansionist and partition plans.”

Shaibani made the remarks at an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) foreign ministers to discuss Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

“The Israeli occupation is violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, UN Security Council resolutions and the principles of respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity by setting up intelligence centers and military points inside restricted zones, serving its expansionist and divisive project,” he said.

Shaibani said such actions aim to “tear apart Syria’s national fabric, rekindle sectarian strife and turn the occupied Syrian Golan Heights into a base to swallow more land.”

“Syria will remain resistant to partition,” he stressed.

The top Syrian diplomat urged the UN “to fully assume its responsibilities in documenting and stopping Israeli incursions and violations” and called on the OIC “to support Syria’s position in international arenas and reject any attempt to legitimize the occupation or impose a reality by force at the expense of Syrian sovereignty.”

Reached the 1973 Middle East war, the Syria-Israel Disengagement Agreement is aimed at separating the warring forces and ending direct clashes between the two sides.

The agreement established arrangements to pull back troops and set two main lines, known as the Alpha and Bravo lines, separating Syrian and Israeli forces.

A buffer zone was created between the two lines under the supervision of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Damascus has repeatedly condemned Israel’s continuous violations of its sovereignty and affirmed its commitment to the 1974 disengagement deal. Israel declared the agreement null after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024.

The new Syrian administration, in place since late December 2024, has not posed any threat to Israel, yet the Israeli military has repeatedly crossed into Syrian territory and carried out airstrikes that killed civilians and destroyed Syrian military sites and infrastructure.

For the past seven months, the Israeli army has occupied Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) and a 15-kilometer-wide security strip in parts of southern Syria, controlling more than 40,000 Syrians inside the seized buffer zone.

Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. Syrian officials say Israel exploited the overthrow of Assad to expand its occupation.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January.