Golan will remain Syrian, annexation decisions null under UN resolutions, says president Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel, will remain Syrian territory and that all annexation measures are null and void under UN Security Council resolutions.

Addressing the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Sharaa said attempts to impose facts on the ground cannot undermine Syria’s sovereignty, the rule of law or the applicability of international law.

“The Golan will remain Syrian land,” he said, adding that all annexation measures are invalid under UN Security Council Resolution 497.

Sharaa also referred to a UN General Assembly vote in December 2025 in which 123 countries backed a resolution concerning the occupied Syrian Golan, thanking countries that supported it and urging those that abstained to reconsider Resolution 497.

He accused Israel of carrying out nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 incursions and around 300 arrests and detentions of Syrians, saying the actions threaten Syria’s stability, defy the global consensus, and revive painful memories of an era Syrians had barely managed to leave behind.

Sharaa said Damascus remains committed to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and continues to call for Israeli forces to withdraw to the lines held before Dec. 8, 2024.

He rejected Israel’s attempts to impose “new facts on the ground” and said Israeli actions across the region undermine security and stability.

The address marked Sharaa’s second consecutive appearance before the UN General Assembly. He attended the 80th session in September 2025, becoming the first Syrian president to participate in the gathering since 1967.