Syria says ready to cooperate with UN if Israel withdraws from demilitarized zone

DAMASCUS, Syria

Syria’s new administration said Wednesday that it is fully ready to cooperate with the United Nations if Israel withdraws from a demilitarized zone occupied by Tel Aviv in the Golan Heights.

This came during a meeting in Damascus between Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and a UN delegation headed by Under-Secretary-General for UN Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Major-General Patrick Gauchat, acting head of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

During the meeting, Syria confirmed that it is “fully prepared to cooperate with the UN, and cover its positions along the border, in accordance with the 1974 mandate, provided the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces," the Syrian state news agency SANA said.

SANA quoted the UN delegation as reiterating its “full commitment to resolving this issue and restoring stability to the border and the region."

The visit came one day after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that his army forces will not withdraw from the demilitarized zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and will stay there “indefinitely.”

The Israeli army occupied the demilitarized zone early December 2024, violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria, in a move that expanded Israel's control over the Golan Heights, most of which it has occupied since the 1967 Middle East War.

At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the seizure of the demilitarized zone was "temporary," without specifying a date for the army's withdrawal from the area.

Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

A new administration led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa has now taken control of the country.