Damascus, Syria – Damascus responded to US President Donald Trump’s reminder on Monday of his decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan.
Israel’s action is “invalid”
On Tuesday, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published, via its X account, the text of UN Security Council Resolution No. 497 of 1981, which nullified and repealed Israel’s decision to impose its laws, authority and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
قرار مجلس الأمن رقم 497 لعام 1981 pic.twitter.com/wXHHtfdg3j
— وزارة الخارجية والمغتربين السورية (@syrianmofaex) September 29, 2025The resolution states that “Israel’s action is invalid and without any international legal effect, and calls on Tel Aviv, as an occupying power, to immediately rescind its decision.”
It also affirms “the continued validity of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War on the Syrian territories occupied since 1967”.
The Council also requested at the time “the Secretary-General of the United Nations to submit a report on the implementation of the resolution within two weeks”.
He stressed that in the event of Israel’s non-compliance, the Council would hold an extraordinary meeting before 5 January 1982 to consider taking appropriate measures in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry’s comment came after US President Donald Trump reiterated that he recognized Israel’s authority over the occupied Syrian Golan.
Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan in his first term in 2019.
As for Israel, it occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in the 1967 war, then annexed it in 1981.
This is a move that has not been recognized by the international community.
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December also led to a military response from Israel, which launched air strikes on military targets across Syria and deployed ground forces inside and outside the demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years.
Troubled agreement
It is noteworthy that four informed sources revealed last week that efforts to reach this security agreement between Syria and Israel faltered at the last minute.
Due to Israeli demands to open a corridor to As-Suwayda Governorate.
This came after the two sides were able, over the past few weeks, to agree on the broad outlines of the agreement.
This follows months of talks in Baku, Paris and London, brokered by the United States, which accelerated ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week.
The agreement aimed to establish a demilitarized zone that would include Suwayda Governorate, which last July witnessed clashes between armed groups of Bedouins and Druze.
