Turkey calls on Israel to withdraw from areas it occupies in Syria

Turkey called on Israel to avoid any steps that could lead to escalation in Syria and end its occupation,  Turkey's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ahmet Yildiz, said during a session of the UN Security Council.

The Turkish official noted that stabilization in southern Syria is linked to the full implementation of the 1974 separation of forces agreement, calling on Israel to withdraw from the areas it occupies in Syria.

 Yildiz pointed out that the region is going through a difficult phase, stressing that achieving peace and stability in the region requires close and continuous coordination between all parties and that efforts to protect Syria from the spiral of regional violence have been largely effective so far.

"In this context, we express our great appreciation to the Syrian government for its efforts in keeping the country away from regional escalation, these efforts deserve the appreciation and support of the international community," he said.

Yildiz called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone and from the areas it has occupied since December 8, 2024 , saying, "Respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity is indispensable, and its path to stability, security and economic recovery should not be jeopardized."

The Israeli occupation establishes 9 bases in southern Syria

Israeli forces confiscated the entry of residents to an area estimated at about 2,000 dunums in the countryside of Daraa, according to the head of the Abdeen village council, Muwaffaq Mahmoud, who confirmed to SANA news agency, noting that the restricted area includes agricultural lands on which the residents depend for their livelihood.

This measure comes in the context of the expansion of the Israeli military presence in southern Syria since the fall of the former regime in late 2024, as the occupation forces have strengthened their deployment by establishing nine bases and main points used for incursions and surveillance operations in the governorates of Quneitra and Daraa.

The Hamidiyah base, east of the village, is the latest of these sites, and constitutes a hub for strengthening field control, along with the Red Hill base, which allows the monitoring of large areas of Quneitra all the way to the Daraa border. The Jabal al-Sheikh Observatory, which includes points that previously belonged to UN forces, also stands out within the framework of Israel's monitoring network that extends along the region.

The bases also include the Jabata al-Khabar forest site with a helipad, the shamrock disk base west of Hatra, the Adnaniya site near the Al-Muntara dam east of Qahtaniya, in addition to the western Red Hill in Kodna, and the Al-Jazeera Company in Daraa, as well as the destroyed Quneitra base in the vicinity of the Old City, which has been reused as part of the new deployment system.

Israel violates disengagement agreement

The agreement on the dispersal of forces witnessed a sharp turn on December 8, 2024, when Israel announced its withdrawal from the agreement and crossed the lines of separation, justifying this by the collapse of the Syrian military situation after the fall  of the Syrian regime, and Israel considered that the agreement lost its validity after "the Syrian forces abandoned their positions", so that its forces began to control Jabal al-Sheikh and the buffer zone, which brought the agreement back to the forefront of the international debate, especially as the United Nations continues to emphasize that the 1974 agreement remains the only recognized legal framework to regulate the situation in the Golan, and that any unilateral change is a clear violation of international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Details of the 1974 Dissolution Agreement

The agreement between Syria and Israel was signed on May 31, 1974 in Geneva to establish a practical framework for the separation of the Syrian and Israeli armies, the demarcation of areas of control, the prevention of direct military friction, and the  establishment of a comprehensive ceasefire on land, sea and air, and the determination of the two lines of separation: Line "A" behind which the Israeli forces are deployed, and Line "B" (Bravo) behind which the Syrian forces are deployed.

  A demilitarized buffer zone has been established between these two lines, extending about 80 kilometres long, 500 metres to 10 kilometres wide, and is under the control of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which has been specially formed to ensure compliance with the terms of the Convention and to monitor any potential breaches.