Syria Urges UN to Force Israeli Forces out of Golan Heights

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Syrian government has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday to take the necessary legal action to force Israel out of the occupied Golan Heights, said Syrian state news agency SANA.

The calls were made in an official letter dispatched by Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which contains calls for the UNSC to commit to its resolution, which ordered the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Golan Heights—a Syrian territory occupied by Israel since July 1967. 

The Syrian government made the calls to end Israel's violation of the UN Charter and other humanitarian laws. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Damascus also complained to the UNSC about the re-arrest of Sudki al-Makt, a Syrian imprisoned in Israel, at the Golan Heights, according to a Xinhua report. 

"Al-Makt has been arbitrarily imprisoned in an Israeli prison for 27 years prior to his release in August 2012," the ministry said as quoted by SANA. The report added that the re-arrest of al-Makt on Wednesday morning adds to the long-list of cross border aggression by Israeli authorities into Syrian territories. 

Technically speaking, Syria is still at war with Israel since Israel was founded in 1948. However, tension between the conflicting parties has escalated since the Syrian government decided to back up the Hezbollah faction in Lebanon. 

Israel took over the Golan Heights from Syria during the Arab-Israeli War in 1967, an action which resulted in the displacement of 100,000 Syrians from the occupied area. 

Syria was once more involved in a war with Israel in 1973 after Damascus decided to reclaim parts of the occupied territories. 

ANTARA