Syria urges EU to pressure Israel to halt attacks

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on Tuesday urged the European Union to move beyond expressions of concern and exert effective pressure on Israel to stop its continuing attacks on Syrian territory, Anadolu Agency reported.

“This systematic aggression against a country that is recovering requires more than statements of concern; it requires effective pressure to stop these attacks,” Shaibani said at a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Damascus.

He called on the EU Foreign Affairs Council to take “a decisive position” by describing the attacks accurately and demanding that Israeli forces withdraw to the positions they held on Dec. 8, 2024.

Syria seeks action from EU bodies

Shaibani also urged the issue to be explicitly placed on the agenda of the EU’s Political and Security Committee.

“Europe’s rejection of changing borders by force should apply equally on the other side of the Mediterranean,” he said.

Israel has carried out repeated airstrikes and ground incursions in southern Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Damascus says Israel must withdraw from territory it seized after Dec. 8, 2024, and has reaffirmed its commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Damascus reiterates Golan Heights position

Shaibani said the occupied Golan Heights remain Syrian territory, adding that UN Security Council Resolution 497 considers Israel’s annexation of the territory “null and void.”

He welcomed the EU’s rejection of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Damascus remained fully committed to the 1974 disengagement agreement. Syria is also seeking active European support for renewing the mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF.

Last week, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa told the UN General Assembly that Israel had carried out nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 incursions and about 300 arrests and detentions of Syrians. He reiterated Damascus’ demand for an Israeli withdrawal to the lines held on Dec. 8, 2024.