Qatar’s prime minister calls on Israeli forces to withdraw from the Syrian buffer zone | Syrian war news
Sheikh Mohammed also pledges support for the new administration and rebuilding Syria’s infrastructure.
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, demanded that Israel “immediately withdraw” its forces from the United Nations-imposed buffer zone with Syria after Israeli troops entered the area following the ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. .
Speaking at a press conference in Damascus on Thursday alongside Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Shara, Sheikh Mohammed criticized Israeli moves to occupy territory near the Golan Heights in southern Syria.
“The occupation of the buffer zone by the Israeli occupation is a reckless… act and must be withdrawn immediately,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Israel last month deployed military units to buffer zonewhich lies along the Golan Heights and separates Syria and Israel, after al-Assad was ousted by opposition fighters led by al-Sharia’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group. The area was officially declared a demilitarized zone as part of the 1974 UN-brokered ceasefire.
As its troops attacked the area, Israel also launched hundreds of airstrikes across Syria. He said his airstrikes were part of a campaign to prevent weapons from getting into the hands of “extremists,” a term he applied to several groups in Syria, including HTS.
Al-Sharaa said at a press conference that his country is ready to welcome UN forces in the buffer zone.
“Israel has prospered in the region thanks to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe there are none at all. There are excuses that Israel uses today to advance into Syrian areas, into the buffer zone,” he said.
“Qatar undoubtedly has a big role to play. … They will play an active role in continuing to exert pressure [on Israel to withdraw] together with Western and European countries and the United States of America,” he told reporters in Damascus.
Sheikh Mohammed also pledged support for the new administration and the rebuilding of Syria’s infrastructure, devastated by nearly 14 years of war.
“We will provide the necessary technical support to make the infrastructure operational again and provide support to the electricity sector,” he said, adding that Qatar is “extending a hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships.”
He also called for the lifting of sanctions against Syria and emphasized that “sanctions will have a negative impact on the support provided to Syria and the Syrian people.”
Both the US and the European Union have imposed sanctions on al-Assad and his government for alleged crimes during the war, which began after security forces cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in 2011.
This month, the US Treasury Department issued a six-month general license authorizing certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and related transactions.
The action does not remove any sanctions, but will ensure that they “do not interfere with activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian aid,” the Finance Ministry said.
The EU has agreed meet at the end of January to discuss lifting sanctions on Syria.
