The deployment of Israeli troops in the Golan Heights, next to the part of the Syrian plateau that Israel has seized and annexed, constitutes a “violation” of the 1974 ceasefire agreement, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said today.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he had ordered the army to “take control” of the neutral zone after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, citing security reasons. The head of Israeli diplomacy spoke of a “limited area” operation and a “temporary measure”.

In a press conference he gave today, Netanyahu declared that the part of the Syrian Golan occupied and annexed by Israel belongs “forever” to his country, after the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria. After thanking US President-elect Donald Trump, who recognized the annexation during his previous term in the White House (2017-2021), Netanyahu said “the Golan will forever be part of the state of Israel.”

The UN Disengagement Monitoring Force (UNDOF) is able to confirm that Israeli armed forces have entered the demarcated (neutral) zone (…) and have deployed in at least three locations,” Dujarric said today. UNDOF has informed Israel that these actions constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement,” he added.

“There should be no armed forces or military activity within the neutral zone. Israel and Syria must continue to implement the terms of the 1974 agreement and preserve stability in the Golan,” he stressed.

Israel captured part of the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. The demilitarized, UN-controlled safe zone was created as part of an agreement to disengage Israeli and Syrian armed forces in 1974, after the Yom War. Kippur (1973). Israel annexed the occupied part of the Syrian Golan in 1981.