Al-Sharaa Demands Israeli Withdrawal, Says Talks Continue

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa used appearances at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to demand that Israel withdraw from territory its forces entered in Syria after December 8, 2024, and to reaffirm Syria’s claim to the Golan Heights. He said diplomatic discussions with Israel remained active, but that security arrangements must come before any discussion of peace. In his address to the General Assembly, al-Sharaa invoked the 1974 separation-of-forces agreement, which established a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces, and called for Israel to return to the lines set by that arrangement. He described the Golan Heights as Syrian territory and rejected what he characterized as attempts to impose a new reality there. The United Nations considers the Golan occupied Syrian territory; Israel captured it in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, a move not recognized by most of the international community. Al-Sharaa said Israel had carried out more than 500 air strikes, over 1,200 incursions and about 300 detentions in Syria. Those figures were his account in the UN speech; the material available does not independently verify them or include an Israeli response.