United Nations, Dec 20 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Israel to stop violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Guterres condemned Israel’s extensive airstrikes on Syria aimed at destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure and its troops’ entry into a demilitarised zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Xinhua news agency reported.
“They are violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and they must stop,” he said.
“Let me be clear: There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers. And those peacekeepers must have freedom of movement to undertake their important work.”
Guterres underscored that Israel and Syria must uphold the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, which remains fully in force.
“This is a decisive moment — a moment of hope and history, but also one of great uncertainty,” the UN Chief told reporters.
“Some will try to exploit the situation for their own narrow ends. But it is the obligation of the international community to stand with the people of Syria who have suffered so much,” he said.
Since a lightning rebel offensive ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes that it says are aimed at destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure.
Israeli troops also moved into a demilitarised zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights – created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war — that is patrolled by UN peacekeepers.
Israeli officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn.
The International Commission on Missing Persons in The Hague has said it had received data indicating there may be as many as 66, as yet unverified, mass grave sites in Syria. More than 150,000 people are considered missing, according to international and Syrian organisations, including the United Nations and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, it said.
A violent crackdown by Assad on peaceful pro-democracy protesters in 2011 led to a civil war. Millions of people fled Syria with millions more internally displaced.
–IANS
int/khz
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
