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Türkiye's Permanent Representative to the U.N., Ambassador Ahmet Yildiz, called on Israel on Wednesday to withdraw from Syrian territory it has occupied since Dec. 8, 2024, and to cease escalatory actions.
Syria's U.N. Ambassador also accused Israel of using Syrian land as a launching pad for military strikes on Lebanon, as the U.N. deputy special envoy for Syria declared that "Israeli military activity in southern Syria continues in breach of existing agreements and international law."
Yildiz told the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) that Türkiye highly appreciated Syria's efforts to keep the country away from regional escalation and called on Israel to reverse course.
"It is essential that Israel also refrains from escalatory actions in Syria and rolls back its encroachment. Stability in southern Syria must be ensured in full compliance with the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement," Yildiz stated.
"We reiterate our call for Israel's withdrawal from the buffer zone and from the areas it has occupied since Dec. 8," he added.
"Respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity remains indispensable. Syria's progress on the path toward stability, security, and economic recovery must not be jeopardized," the Turkish official noted.
He said Syria's efforts to shield itself from regional violence had "been largely effective so far" and deserved "the appreciation and full support of the international community and this Council."
Syria's U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi painted a comprehensive picture of Israeli military behavior in Syria.
"Israel continues to pursue its aggressive and expansionist policies. It has adopted five-year plans to expand settlement activity in the occupied Syrian Golan," he said.
"It fuels tensions and unrest and escalates its attacks as its continuous incursions into southern Syria are not enough. It uses Syrian territory that it has infiltrated as a launching point for military attacks targeting brotherly Lebanon," Olabi noted.
He added that Israel "deliberately targets civilians, abducts Syrian children and civilians" and "sprays unknown chemical substances on agricultural lands," as documented by U.N. agencies.
He said Israeli leaders were "promoting speculative maps linking Syria to regional axes unrelated to it."
He warned that Israel appeared "intent on dragging Syria into the current regional escalation to undermine all the progress that we have all achieved."
He urged the Council to "act immediately and seriously to restrain Israel."
UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Claudio Cordone delivered the U.N.'s sharpest official language yet on Israeli behavior in southern Syria.
"Israeli military activity in southern Syria continues in breach of existing agreements and international law," Cordone told the Council, pointing to near-daily incursions, checkpoints, and detention of Syrian nationals.
He specifically cited a Wednesday incident in which "dozens of Israelis crossed several hundred meters into the Area of Separation near the village of Hadar," calling both the crossing and the behavior "highly provocative."
"I reiterate our strong call on Israel to cease violations, respect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, adhere to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and prevent incidents such as the one today," Cordone said, also demanding Israel return all Syrian detainees.
He noted that March 2026 recorded the lowest levels of direct conflict-related violence in Syria in 15 years, but warned that Israeli military activity was threatening the country's fragile political transition.
He expressed hope that "talks between Israel and Syria with U.S. facilitation can lead to sustainable security arrangements."
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