In New York, Syria’s UN ambassador, Ibrahim Olabi, told the Security Council that Israel’s primary concern was not general instability but the collapse of a regime that systematically tortured and gassed its own citizens.
He argued that once the regime fell, Israel lost any remaining justification for its continued military presence in southern Syria, contending that the occupation now appears to be a land grab for political motives rather than a response to a genuine security threat.
His remarks coincided with the Council’s unanimous vote to renew the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), a peacekeeping mission created in 1974 after the 1973 Arab‑Israeli War to monitor the ceasefire and demilitarized zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces.
Olabi noted that residents of Qunaitra and nearby communities near Israeli‑held territory were unable to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, unlike the rest of the country. He described foreign military incursions, interference in daily life, and abductions in areas later occupied by Israeli forces, adding that he continues to receive messages from affected families even while in New York.
He told council members that Israel’s claim that its presence was temporary and justified by changes inside Syria “was never valid,” and “certainly not today.”
He highlighted the country’s post‑Assad stabilization, ongoing reconstruction, and cooperation with Security Council members on counter‑terrorism and chemical‑weapons compliance, arguing that the Israeli rationale for occupation no longer holds, even rhetorically.
Olabi directly asked the Council whether Israel’s continued presence indicated that it had, in fact, preferred the status quo under the Assad regime.
He pointed to Damascus’s request for increased funding for UNDOF and greater monitoring as evidence that the new Syrian authorities do not seek confrontation, while noting that Israel remains in violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, a fact documented in reports submitted to the Council.
The resolution, jointly drafted by Russia and the United States, was adopted by all 15 Council members on Thursday. Olabi welcomed its reaffirmation of the disengagement agreement’s validity and its prohibition on any military presence in the separation zone, describing these as “binding obligations” that Israel continues to violate.
He said recent Israeli statements ruling out any withdrawal from Syrian territory were especially concerning, given parallel US‑brokered mediation efforts between Damascus and Israel under President Donald Trump, which he noted were being conducted publicly for the first time.
Olabi added that he hopes he will not need to raise the issue at the Council’s next session on Syria in six months, “not because it will be ignored — we will never ignore it — but because it has been resolved and stability restored.”
He said Syria is fulfilling its responsibilities, and it is now Israel’s turn to do the same.