UN decries Israeli occupation of Golan Heights buffer zone

The UN special envoy for Syria said that Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights buffer zone following the ouster of Syria’s Baath regime is a violation of a 1974 agreement signed between Israel and Syria.

Asked by Anadolu Agency on Tuesday about Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights buffer zone and reports of further incursions into Syrian territory, Geir Pedersen told a weekly press conference at the UN Geneva Office that the UN considers this a violation of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement.

"The message from New York is the same, that what we're seeing is a violation of the disengagement agreement in 1974," he added.

Pedersen also stressed that they would follow this issue closely with their colleagues at UN headquarters in New York.

Israel’s occupation of buffer zone in Syria

The Israeli army entered the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights over the weekend on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Netanyahu claimed in a statement that the "occupation is temporary."

The Israeli army released visuals of soldiers and armoured vehicles occupying the buffer zone in Golan.

Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967. The 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria established the borders of the buffer zone and the demilitarised area.

Israel occupied most of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the territory in a move never recognised by the international community.​​​​​​​

Netanyahu said earlier the 1974 agreement collapsed with the fall of the Assad regime and the abandoning of his troops, necessitating the Israeli takeover. Netanyahu's decision was made without the approval of the Knesset, the body that had originally approved the agreement.