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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced Sunday that the world body will submit a detailed report to the Security Council later this month on Israeli violations in Syria, calling breaches of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity "unacceptable" and urging Israel to comply with the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.
Speaking at a news conference in Damascus, Guterres delivered some of his sharpest public remarks yet on Israeli activity in Syrian territory, signaling that the UN intends to press the issue through its most powerful body.
The 1974 agreement, brokered after the Yom Kippur War, established a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces and has long governed the ceasefire line near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Guterres said a visit to Sednaya Prison during his trip laid bare the magnitude of abuses carried out under the former government, describing the facility as a site where tens of thousands of people were killed and tortured.
The notorious detention complex north of Damascus became a symbol of the Assad government's systematic brutality and drew international attention following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Guterres said the experience underscored the urgency of transitional justice and accountability for all crimes committed in recent years.
On the humanitarian front, the UN chief warned that international assistance currently covers roughly 20 percent of Syrians' needs, a gap that threatens to undermine the country's recovery at a fragile moment.
Syria is emerging from more than a decade of conflict that displaced millions and destroyed large parts of its infrastructure, and the UN has repeatedly warned that funding for the humanitarian response remains critically insufficient. Guterres called Syria's people resilient, saying the atrocities they endured had not broken their resolve to pursue what he described as their "legitimate aspirations."
Despite the challenges, Guterres expressed confidence in Syria's political trajectory, saying the internationally backed transition is moving in the right direction and that he is committed to supporting it.
He stressed that the transitional justice process is already underway and that ensuring accountability for past crimes must remain a central priority. The visit, which included meetings with senior Syrian officials, marked a significant show of UN engagement with Damascus as the country navigates one of the most consequential political transitions in its modern history.
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