Continued Israeli military activity in southern Syria, coupled with severe economic pressures, is putting the country’s fragile political transition at risk despite recent institutional progress, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday.
UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Claudio Cordone, conveying a message from the UN secretary-general, called for an end to violations of Syrian sovereignty and renewed adherence to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Syria and Israel.
“Violations of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity must cease, and the 1974 agreement must be respected,” Cordone said.
He warned that security concerns “cannot be addressed in any sustainable way through unilateral military action or an open-ended military presence.”
Cordone said Israeli forces continued to operate in southern Syria in violation of the disengagement agreement, citing “near daily incursions, temporary checkpoints, searches of homes and artillery fire,” particularly in Quneitra and western Daraa.
His remarks followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s September 9 visit to Israeli troops deployed on Mount Hermon.
Turning to tensions in the southern province of Suwayda, Cordone stressed that disputes there should be resolved by Syrians themselves “without disruptive foreign interference” and through the roadmap established in September 2025.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war and extended its laws and administration to the territory in 1981, a move declared “null and void” and without international legal effect by UN Security Council Resolution 497.
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, Israeli forces moved into the UN-monitored area of separation and additional positions on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. The UN has repeatedly called for respect for the 1974 agreement and for Israeli forces to withdraw from areas entered after December 8, 2024.