UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Israeli airstrikes on Syria are violations of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and “must stop.”
Israel launched a major campaign after the fall of the Assad regime on December 8 to destroy the Syrian military’s strategic capabilities, in a bid to prevent assets from falling into the hands of hostile elements. Targets have included chemical weapons sites, missiles, air defenses and air force and navy targets.
“Syria’s sovereignty, territorial unity, and integrity must be fully restored, and all acts of aggression must come to an immediate end,” Guterres tells reporters.
Israel also entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights just hours after the rebels took Damascus. Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a temporary defensive move that would last only until it could guarantee security along the frontier.
“Let me be clear: There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers – period. Israel and Syria must uphold the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, which remains fully in force,” Guterres says.
He adds that the UN is focused on facilitating an “inclusive, credible and peaceful” political transition in Syria and getting aid moving to combat one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
Guterres also names Mexican lawyer Karla Quintana to head the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria and says her team must be allowed to carry out their mandate fully.
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 organizations.
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2 comments:
Hey Guterres! Houthi missile strikes on Israeli civilian infrastructure 'must stop'.
Exactly...
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