Russia Warns About Threats of ‘Israeli’ Settlement Plans in Occupied Syrian Golan

By Staff, Agencies

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has once again denounced the Zionist regime’s occupation of the Golan Heights, stating that the ‘Israeli’ plans for the expansion of its illegal settlements in the strategic region undermine regional stability.

Nebenzya made the remarks during a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue in New York on Monday.

“‘Israel’s’ settlement plans in the occupied Syrian Golan threaten to undermine regional stability,” Nebenzya said.

In 1967, the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime waged a full-scale war against Arab territories, during which it occupied a large area of the Golan and annexed it four years later – a move never recognized by the international community.

In 1973, another war broke out, and a year later, a UN-brokered ceasefire came into force, according to which Tel Aviv and Damascus agreed to separate their troops and create a buffer zone in the Heights. However, the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime has over the past several decades built dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan in defiance of international calls for the regime to stop its illegal construction activities there.

In a unilateral move rejected by the international community in 2019, former US president Donald Trump signed a decree recognizing the Zionist regime’s “sovereignty” over the Syrian Golan.

Nevertheless, Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.

The United Nations has also time and again emphasized Syria’s sovereignty over the territory.

Earlier this year, Deputy Russian Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said Russia is concerned over Tel Aviv’s announced plans for expanding settlement activity in the occupied Golan Heights.

He said the move directly contradicts the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Convention.

“We stress Russia’s unchanging position, according to which we do not recognize ‘Israeli’ sovereignty over the Golan Heights that are an inalienable part of Syria,” Polyanskiy said on February 23.

Last December, the Tel Aviv occupation regime announced that it intends to double the number of its illegal settlements in the Golan, despite an earlier resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly demanding the regime’s full withdrawal from the occupied territory.