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NEW YORK CITY: More than 40 countries \u2014 spanning the Arab world, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America \u2014 stood with Syria at the UN on Friday as its envoy accused Israel of violating its sovereignty by dispatching top government officials to the summit of Mount Hermon this week.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim Olabi, Syria\u2019s permanent representative to the UN, warned that continuing Israeli incursions threatened to unravel the country\u2019s fragile, post-war recovery.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 9, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited Israeli military positions on Mount Hermon, inside Syrian territory, accompanied by the defense minister, Israel Katz, and declared that Israel now held unprecedented control stretching from the summit of the mountain south to the Yarmouk River and west to the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
Olabi told reporters that Israeli officials had entered \u201cthe sovereign territory of the Syrian Arab Republic\u201d and proceeded to the summit of the mountain, describing these actions as part of a pattern of \u201ccontinued Israeli military presence and repeated incursions into Syrian territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cSovereignty is not selective. Territorial integrity is not negotiable. It is the indispensable pillar of the international system and the first line of defense against global instability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Invoking the UN Charter and the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian forces, Olabi said both documents were clear that established lines and arrangements \u201cmust be fully respected and upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia joined a broad coalition of Arab and Islamic states including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon and the State of Palestine, in backing Syria’s position. China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye and the Republic of Korea similarly stood with Damascus, alongside African states including Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Comoros. France, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Norway and Sweden were among the Western states present, with other members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the EU also joining them.<\/p>\n
Olabi said Syria had \u201cconsistently distanced itself from the ongoing regional escalation\u201d and repeatedly affirmed that it posed no threat to its neighbors, a stance he said had been \u201crepeatedly acknowledged\u201d by the international community.<\/p>\n
He warned that any further military or political action risked undermining the progress that has been made by the new Syrian government since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 after nearly 14 years of civil war, including its counterterrorism efforts, a crackdown on captagon production and trafficking, steps to address the legacy of the Assad regime\u2019s chemical weapons program, the resolution of nuclear issues, the consolidation of weapons under state control, the return of displaced persons and refugees, and economic recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for the sake of its people, the region and international peace and security,\u201d Olabi said as he concluded the statement on behalf of the assembled states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n