Rights group urges UNSC to put an end to Israel’s serious violations in southern Syria
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called on the UN Security Council to take urgent and decisive measures to stop the Israeli aggression on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, ensure Israeli occupation forces fully withdraw from the south of the country, and force them to comply with international law.
In a statement issued yesterday, the rights watchdog said the ongoing Israeli aggression on Syria constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter, explaining that Israel seeks to impose a new reality through the policy of illegal annexation by force, and to expand its security and military influence in southern Syria.
It also explained that Israel has exploited the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 to carry out a large-scale military campaign during which it destroyed the Syrian army’s basic capabilities, with the aim of undermining its ability to protect national sovereignty and reshape the balance of power in the region.
READ: Israel builds nine military bases, infrastructure in Syria
Furthermore, Tel Aviv has unilaterally terminated the 1974 demilitarisation agreement between the two countries, which paved the way for the Israeli army to occupy the buffer zone along the border, in a serious violation of international law.
“It also established nine military sites in Mount Hermon and the occupied Golan, and intensified its almost daily incursions into Syrian villages and towns in the governorates of Sweida and Quneitra,” the rights group said.
Euro-Med stressed that the international system’s shameful failure to hold Israel accountable for the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip was a major factor in encouraging it to escalate its violations of international law more boldly and publicly.
“This international failure has enabled Israel to completely evade any moral or legal obligations, allowing it to act as an entity above the law, and pushing it to impose new facts by force without any fear of consequences, in a blatant challenge to the entire international system and a deliberate attempt to undermine the global legal system,” it added.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor noted that senior Israeli officials have publicly acknowledged their occupation of areas in Syria, confirming their quest to impose a new reality within Syrian territory by military force.
On 23 February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv would not allow the presence of the Syrian army south of Damascus, stressing that southern Syria will be “demilitarised”, while increasing Israel’s presence in the area.