Israel’s settlement expansion in Golan reflects unwillingness to achieve peace: Egypt
ISTANBUL
Egypt has condemned an Israeli decision to expand settlement building in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, saying the move reflects Tel Aviv’s lack of willingness to achieve peace.
The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enhance Israeli settlement building in the Golan Heights with a budget exceeding 40 million shekels ($11.2 million).
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called the Israeli decision “a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
"These plans once again reflect Israel's lack of willingness to achieve a just peace in the region," the ministry said.
Egypt said that Israel's continued expansion in seizing Arab lands and altering the demographic makeup of the occupied territories clearly violates international law.
It called on the active international parties and the UN Security Council to assume their responsibilities in rejecting these violations of Syrian sovereignty and put an end to Israeli settlement activities.
The Israeli decision was condemned by several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
The Golan Heights is Syrian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war.
Currently, approximately 50,000 people live in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, half of whom are Israeli settlers, while the other half consists of Druze, Alawites and others, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
There are 33 Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan, incorporated into what is called the Golan Regional Council.
Bashar Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8 after anti-regime groups seized control of the capital, Damascus. The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters captured key cities across the country in a swift offensive that lasted less than two weeks.
Taking advantage of Assad’s fall, Israel has intensified its airstrikes against military sites across Syria in blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty.
Israel also declared the collapse of a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria and deployed its forces within the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights, in a move widely condemned by the United Nations and several Arab nations.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar