The United Nations security council was scheduled to hold a meeting at a request of Syria on United States President Donald Trump’s move of recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Israel had seized Golan during the 1967 Middle East civil war and then annexed it from Syria in 1981, a move not recognized internationally, which the UNSC had declared “null and void and without international legal effect”.
According to Dawn news reports, Syria, in a letter to 15-member UNSC requesting for a meet, has described Washington decision as the “flagrant violation” of UN resolution.
Earlier in 1974, the UNSC had deployed a peacekeeping force – known as the UNDOF (UN Disengagement Observer Force) – in order to monitor a truce between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights. There are above 880 troops deployed on the grounds by the UN.
On Monday, the US president has announced his move of recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which has drawn criticism from other nations such as China, Russia and France.
Senior fellow at the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs has said Arab states “allies of the United States are the most embarrassed because they have gone to great lengths to get closer to Donald Trump”.