Qatar condemns Israeli prime minister’s tour in occupied Syrian territory

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – Qatar on Thursday condemned a field tour by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupied territory in southern Syria as a “blatant violation” of Syria’s sovereignty and international law.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the visit amounted to a “dangerous threat to regional security,” calling on the international community to take “urgent action” to compel Israel to comply with international legitimacy and relevant UN resolutions, particularly the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, and to halt repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory in order to prevent further escalation.

The statement reaffirmed Qatar’s “full support for Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” as well as the aspirations of the Syrian people for security and stability.

Netanyahu, along with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Army Chief Eyal Zamir, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, conducted a field visit to the Israeli-seized buffer zone in southern Syria on Wednesday.

Damascus denounced the visit as “illegitimate” and “a grave violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“This visit represents a new attempt to impose a fait accompli that contradicts relevant UN Security Council resolutions and falls within the occupation’s policies aimed at entrenching its aggression and continuing its violations of Syrian territory,” the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria.