The occupied Syrian Golan – Report of the Secretary-General (A/79/337)

04 September 2024

Seventy-ninth session

Agenda item 49 of the provisional agenda

Israeli practices and settlement activities affecting the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories

The occupied Syrian Golan

Report of the Secretary-General

Summary

The present report has been prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/77 of 7 December 2023, in which the Secretary-General was requested to report to the Assembly at its seventy-ninth session on the implementation of the resolution.

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/77. In paragraph 1 of that resolution, the Assembly called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply with the relevant resolutions on the occupied Syrian Golan, in particular Security Council resolution 497 (1981), in which the Council, inter alia, decided that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan was null and void and without international legal effect and demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, rescind forthwith its decision.
2. In paragraph 2 of its resolution 78/77, the General Assembly called upon Israel to desist from changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan and in particular to desist from the establishment of settlements. In addition, in paragraph 7 of that resolution, the Secretary-General was requested to report to the Assembly at its seventy-ninth session on the implementation of the resolution.

II. Implementation of General Assembly resolution 78/77

3. On 1 May 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on behalf of the Secretary-General, addressed a note verbale to the Government of Israel referring to General Assembly resolution 78/77 and requesting information on steps taken or envisaged concerning the implementation of the resolution. At the time of finalization of the present report, no reply had been received from the Government of Israel.
4. In addition, on 1 May 2024, OHCHR addressed, on behalf of the Secretary-General, a note verbale to all Permanent Missions in Geneva to draw their attention to General Assembly resolution 78/77 and to request Member States to provide information on any steps taken or envisaged concerning the implementation of the relevant provisions of the resolution. The Permanent Missions of Bahrain, Chile, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran (Islamic Republic of), the Syrian Arab Republic and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) responded to that request.
5. On the same day, OHCHR addressed, on behalf of the Secretary-General, a note verbale to the competent United Nations organs, specialized agencies, international and regional intergovernmental organizations and international humanitarian organizations to bring the resolution to their attention. At the time of reporting, no responses had been received.

III. Replies received

A. Syrian Arab Republic

6. On 31 May 2024, the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic addressed a note verbale to OHCHR in which it underscored that, for decades, the international community had demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, comply with United Nations resolutions concerning the occupied Syrian Golan, in particular, Security Council resolution 497 (1981). That resolution stipulated, among other things, the invalidity of the decision of the occupying Power dated 14 December 1981 to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, and considered that decision null and void and without international legal effect.
7. The Syrian Arab Republic noted that the General Assembly had rejected the occupation by Israel of the Syrian Golan and demanded that Israel withdraw from the entire occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967, including in its resolution 78/77.
8. The Syrian Arab Republic emphasized that, despite the repeated demands of the United Nations for the occupying Power to end its continued occupation of the Syrian Golan and stop its ongoing repressive practices against Syrian citizens living under occupation and its violations of international law, the calls of the international community had not had any deterrent effect. The Syrian Arab Republic asserted that Israel continued to act with impunity, protected from accountability by some members of the Security Council.
9. The Syrian Arab Republic renewed its condemnation of the illegitimate decision by the former President of the United States of America to recognize what he called “Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied Syrian Golan. The Syrian Arab Republic asserted that that declaration was a flagrant violation of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and relevant United Nations resolutions, the foremost of which was Security Council resolution 497 (1981).
10. The Syrian Arab Republic further noted that, following the illegitimate decision of the previous United States Administration, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, at its summit meeting held in Baku on 25 and 26 October 2019, had renewed its principled position regarding the occupied Syrian Golan and the protection of the rights of its Syrian citizens. It noted that the countries of the Non‑Aligned Movement had condemned the recognition by the United States of the annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan by Israel. The Syrian Arab Republic further noted that the Non-Aligned Movement had called upon the international community and the Security Council to assume their responsibility in that context, given that the declaration was in violation of international law and the purposes of the Charter and relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular Security Council resolution 497 (1981).
11. The Syrian Arab Republic underlined that the people of the occupied Syrian Golan had always expressed their absolute rejection of the attempt by the occupying Power to impose, in the view of the Syrian Arab Republic, its dangerous illegal decision to legitimize occupation and apply its laws by holding elections for local councils in the occupied Syrian Golan.
12. The Syrian Arab Republic stressed, that on 16 October 2021, the Israeli occupation forces had shot and killed liberated Syrian prisoner Medhat al-Saleh while he was returning to his home in the Ayn al-Tinah, close to the occupied town of Majdal Shams. The Syrian Arab Republic added that Mr. Al-Saleh had been active in defending the rights of Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan.
13. The Syrian Arab Republic condemned the continued settlement policies of Israel aimed at perpetuating the occupation of the Syrian Golan, including the construction and expansion of settlements, the confiscation of agricultural lands and the establishment of an agricultural industry that supports Israeli settlers and harms the agricultural industry of the Syrian residents of the occupied territory. In particular, the Syrian Arab Republic highlighted the following:

(a)     The Regional Council of Israeli Settlements continued to announce, in its weekly bulletin, the expansion of settlements in the light of the increase in the number of Israeli settlers. As in the case of the settlements of Trump and Metzar, the pace of construction of temporary homes or caravans had accelerated, with plans to create longer-term residences. That was also seen in the case of the settlements of Odem and Ani‘am. Work continued on the construction of so-called service facilities for the settlements in Katzrin, Kidmat Zvi, Nov, Kanaf, Neve Ativ and Yonatan;

(b)     In April 2019, the Israeli occupation authorities announced plans to expand settlements, including the construction of 30,000 housing units, the construction of new settlements and the transfer of 250,000 settlers to the occupied Syrian Golan, which would change the demographic composition of the area;

(c)     Israel had supported the seizure of land by Israeli settlers, and the exploitation of land by the settlements for the purpose of producing various agricultural products. The Syrian Arab Republic explained that that constituted an unbearable economic burden on the Syrian Arab residents of the occupied Syrian Golan, noting that unfair competition owing to discriminatory policies threatened the future livelihood of the Syrian Arab population, which depended on agriculture;

(d)     The Regional Council for Israeli Settlements continued to announce, in its weekly bulletin, projects to expand settlements in order to increase the number of settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan;

(e)     On 11 October 2021, in the context of seeking to expand settlement projects in the occupied Syrian Golan, a conference entitled “Economic Strategic Regional Israel Development in the occupied Syrian Golan” was convened in the settlement established in Khasfayn village. One of the objectives of the conference was the expansion of settlement projects in the occupied Syrian Golan, with the aim of reaching half a million settlers by 2048.

14. The Syrian Arab Republic noted that the project to install wind turbines on Syrian-owned lands in the occupied Syrian Golan reflected one of the ways to consolidate the illegal policies of Israel. The Syrian Arab Republic stressed the dangerous impact of that project and referred to the facts below, which it had previously shared with OHCHR:

(a)     The Israeli occupation authorities had granted the Israeli energy company Energix a licence to build between 45 and 52 wind turbines to generate energy on the lands of Syrian farmers in the occupied Syrian Golan, in the context of its policies of creating facts on the ground to perpetuate the Israeli occupation;

(b)     The wind turbines would be installed to generate energy on an area of 6,000 acres of agricultural land belonging to Syrians and in various surrounding villages in the occupied Syrian Golan. Large protests by inhabitants of the Syrian Golan had been held to reject that project, which limited the ability of the occupied villages to expand and besieged their residents in suffocating and dense residential outposts, with severe negative health, environmental and agricultural effects. The project would expand to over one fifth of the remaining agricultural lands in the Golan, to the detriment of the remaining source of livelihood of the people in the occupied Syrian Golan. The Israeli authorities continued to pursue efforts to establish an additional number of wind turbines, including 42 turbines in the Tall Faras region and 30 turbines in the areas of Tall Sahil and Mansurah, which are both occupied;

(c)     The Syrian Arab Republic noted that it had repeatedly warned against the impact of the wind turbine project, in particular its detrimental health and environmental impact, and the fact that it represented a serious violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. It also stressed that the Israeli occupation authorities’ insistence on pursuing that project reflected their plans to impose a discriminatory colonial policy on the occupied Syrian Golan and its population, in violation of all relevant United Nations’ resolutions on the matter. It further noted that the negative environmental and health impact of the turbine project was meant to create irreversible damage to the land, with the intention of displacing its population. That represented an illegal de facto annexation of the occupied territory, changing the nature of the territory and imposing irreversible damage to its environment and people, which would also undermine any future possibility for comprehensive and just peace based on the full withdrawal of Israel from Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and from the Syrian Golan, which had been occupied since 1967, in conformity with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 497 (1981).

15. The Syrian Arab Republic reaffirmed that the Israeli occupation authorities continued to pressure the residents of the occupied Syrian villages to accept property documents issued by the Israeli Survey Records Office instead of the property documents registered by the Syrian Arab Republic, through threats to confiscate their lands. The Syrian Arab Republic also referred to demands by the Israeli authorities for submission of land ownership certificates of the inhabitants of the occupied Syrian Golan. The Israeli authorities also reportedly threatened to confiscate those lands if the documents were not submitted.
16. The Syrian Arab Republic noted that Israel had continuously sought to impose Israeli identity and civil documents on the Syrian Arab population as a way to consolidate its occupation. Furthermore, Israel continued to prevent Syrians of the occupied Syrian Golan from visiting and communicating with their families in the Syrian Arab Republic.
17. The Syrian Arab Republic further noted that Israel continued to violate the human rights of Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan, in particular the rights to health and work. Those rights had been violated through a set of discriminatory practices and measures taken by Israeli forces.
18. The Syrian Arab Republic recalled the report of the Director-General of the International Labour Organization issued in May 2024 (ILC.112/DG/APP) on the situation of workers of occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan. In the report, the Director-General emphasized the continuation of the discriminatory practices of the occupation authorities against Syrian workers in favour of Israeli settlers.
19. The Syrian Arab Republic added that the occupying Power continued to exploit the health needs of Syrian residents in order to put pressure on them. For example, the occupying Power obliged the Syrian citizens to enrol in the health insurance systems of the occupying Power while obliging them to pay exorbitant premiums that were deducted from the salaries of workers and employees. The Syrian Arab Republic stressed that the occupying Power continued to ignore repeated demands to provide Syrian residents in the villages of the occupied Syrian Golan with integrated health centres, including a psychiatric treatment centre in each of the occupied villages, and as well as demands related to the construction of a hospital that would accommodate 30 beds and facilities with the capacity to perform minor surgeries. Syrian doctors in the occupied Syrian Golan, 95 per cent of whom had completed their education in Syrian universities, were unable to participate in scientific events and seminars that were held outside the occupied Syrian Golan as a result of the restrictions imposed on their movement and travel to the Syrian Arab Republic. Syrian children in the occupied Syrian Golan suffered psychologically from the consequences of the ongoing occupation and its discriminatory practices, including those related to the imposition of educational curricula and the severing of social ties with their relatives in the Syrian Arab Republic.
20. The Syrian Arab Republic emphasized that the discriminatory practices of the occupying Power had peaked during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Medical supplies had diminished in clinics in the occupied villages. Despite the vigorous work of Syrian medical teams, the shortage of medical supplies and equipment had exacerbated the suffering of Syrians and doubled the number of COVID-19 cases. The Syrian Arab Republic indicated that the occupying Power had also refrained from providing detailed statistical data on Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan in the context of responding to the pandemic, in order to conceal the indicators that would allow assessment of the response needed.
21. The Syrian Arab Republic renewed its rejection of attempts to perpetuate the occupation of the Syrian Golan by Israel, and the continued violation by Israel of international law, in particular the relevant Security Council resolutions and the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in the occupied Syrian Golan. The Syrian Arab Republic further rejected any form of support provided by other Member States in support of that approach, which would be in violation of their international obligations as States Members of the United Nations.
22. The Syrian Arab Republic reiterated its call upon Member States that sought to promote international law to pressure Israel, the occupying Power, to end its occupation of the Syrian Golan, and not to recognize any legal situation arising from violations of peremptory norms of international law by Israel. Furthermore, the Syrian Arab Republic called upon Member States to refrain from providing any assistance to the occupation.
23. The Syrian Arab Republic further called upon the Secretary-General to compile information and report on all business establishments and commercial companies involved in activities that had enabled or that would enable, directly or indirectly, and had benefited from the construction and growth of settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, in violation of international law and Security Council resolutions, including resolution 497 (1981).
24. The Syrian Arab Republic further called for the opening of the Qunaytirah gate crossing that had been deliberately closed by Israel, preventing Syrian families residing in the occupied Syrian Golan from communicating with their homeland, the Syrian Arab Republic. The closure of the Qunaytirah gate crossing had deprived thousands of Syrian students of the possibility of continuing their education in Syria and had had disastrous economic repercussions for Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan, who were unable to sell their products and crops in their homeland. The Syrian Arab Republic highlighted that that constituted violations of the human rights to education and movement and called for accountability for those violations.
25. The Syrian Arab Republic stressed, in particular, the need to refrain from providing political and economic support that would allow Israel to perpetuate its occupation of the occupied Syrian Golan, and to continue its violations of relevant provisions of international law, in particular Security Council resolution 497 (1981) and the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, highlighting, in particular, any assistance for the continuation of Israeli settlements or the establishment of new settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan.
26. The Syrian Arab Republic again called upon the international community and international organizations to monitor the flagrant violations of international law committed by Israel and called for effective and tangible measures to be taken to stop those violations, in particular those related to illegal settlement practices aimed at prolonging and perpetuating the occupation.
27. The Syrian Arab Republic reaffirmed that the occupied Syrian Golan was an inseparable part of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic and that its recovery from Israel, by all means guaranteed by international law, was an eternal right that was not subject to bargaining or concession or a statute of limitations.
28. Finally, the Syrian Arab Republic emphasized that the stability of the Middle East region and the credibility of the United Nations required that measures be taken to ensure the implementation of all international resolutions related to ending the occupation of the occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan, and withdrawal to the line of 4 June 1967, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, in particular Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 497 (1981) and 2334 (2016).

B. Bahrain

29. On 6 June 2024, the Permanent Mission of Bahrain responded with a note verbale to OHCHR. It reaffirmed its rejection of the actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, in the occupied Syrian Golan and demanded that Israel withdraw from all occupied territories. That affirmation was in accordance with the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including Assembly resolutions 78/11, 78/76, 78/77, 78/78 and 78/170.
30. Bahrain stressed the need to abide by the purposes and principles of the United Nations, including with regard to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as the need to implement relevant international resolutions. In addition, it demanded that Israel cease changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan, and urged it to stop all illegal measures and actions, including the construction and expansion of settlements, in the Syrian Golan, which had been occupied since 1967.
31. Bahrain underlined its rejection of attempts to perpetuate the occupation of the Syrian Golan by Israel and of the continued violations of international law committed by Israel, in particular the relevant Security Council resolutions and the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in the occupied Syrian Golan.
32. Bahrain affirmed the Arab position of full solidarity with the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon, and underlined that it stood with them in response to the ongoing Israeli attacks and threats against them. In addition, Bahrain underlined that any attack on the Syrian Arab Republic and Lebanon was an attack on the Arab nation.
33. Bahrain underlined its position rejecting settlement expansion and other Israeli commercial projects in the occupied Syrian Golan, in addition to rejecting all policies that had an impact on the economic situation of the local population. In addition, Bahrain condemned the ongoing settlement policies of Israel, including the confiscation of agricultural lands and the establishment of an agricultural industry that supported Israeli settlers and harmed the agricultural industry of the Syrian residents of the occupied territory.
34. Bahrain called on all States and international organizations, including human rights organizations, to put pressure on Israel to immediately release all Syrian prisoners from Israeli prisons, and it called on Israel comply with international human rights laws and standards for the treatment of prisoners, including allowing prisoners to receive visits from their families.
35. Bahrain reiterated the importance of implementing Human Rights Council resolutions 55/31, on human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and 55/32, on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.
36. Bahrain highlighted that the policies of Israel, the occupying Power, had undermined the peace process and called upon the international community to compel Israel, the occupying Power, to withdraw fully from Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967.

C. Chile

37. On 21 June 2024, the Permanent Mission of Chile responded with a note verbale to OHCHR and reaffirmed its rejection of the actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, in the occupied Syrian Golan, and it demanded that Israel withdraw from all occupied territories. That affirmation was in accordance with the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, including General Assembly resolutions 78/11, 78/76, 78/77, 78/78 and 78/170.
38. Chile called upon Israel to comply with all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, in particular Human Rights Council resolutions 55/31, on human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and 55/32, on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.

D. Cuba

39. On 10 May 2024, the Permanent Mission of Cuba responded with a note verbale to OHCHR reiterating its concern about the suffering of the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan owing to the systematic and continuous violations of human rights by Israel since 1967, while also demanding an end to the occupation of that territory.
40. Cuba requested that all legislative or administrative action and measures that Israel had taken or that it might take that purport to alter the legal status, physical character and demographic composition of the occupied Syrian Golan and its institutional structure, as well as measures to apply the jurisdiction and administration of Israel in the illegally occupied territory, to be considered as null and void and without legal effect.
41. Cuba noted that it rejected practices and conduct aimed at controlling and seizing the natural resources of the occupied Syrian Golan by Israel, in flagrant violation of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on the permanent sovereignty of the Syrian population over its natural resources in the occupied Syrian Golan.
42. Cuba emphasized that Israel must cease practices that contravened the full enjoyment of human rights by the Syrian residents of the occupied Syrian Golan, including by refraining from the use of repressive measures. Cuba noted that foreign occupation, policies of expansion and aggression, racial discrimination, the creation of settlements, the imposition of faits accomplis and the forcible annexation of foreign territory, such as the Syrian Golan, were practices that violated international instruments and norms and had a negative effect on the human rights of the Syrian population in the occupied Syrian Golan.
43. Cuba stated that Israel must withdraw immediately from the entire territory of the occupied Syrian Golan to the lines of 4 June 1967, in compliance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), and that it must renounce its intention to annex the Golan, which was territory under the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic. Cuba emphasized that the continued illegal occupation and de facto annexation of the Syrian Golan by Israel constituted an obstacle to the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.
44. Cuba condemned the violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel against Syrian detainees in the occupied Syrian Golan and reiterated its concern about the continuation of those practices. It also reiterated its concern regarding the prevalence of inhumane conditions in Israeli prisons, noting that those conditions had caused detainees’ health to deteriorate and, in some cases, endangered the lives of the detainees.
45. Cuba reiterated that it strongly condemned the declaration made by the former United States Administration recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the territory of the occupied Syrian Golan. It considered that declaration to have been a grave violation of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council, in particular resolution 497 (1981). It noted that that recognition had been in violation of the legitimate interests of the Syrian people and the Arab and Islamic nations, with serious consequences for stability and security in the Middle East. Cuba urged the Security Council to fulfil its responsibility under the Charter with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security, and to take the necessary decisions to stop the actions of the United States, which supported Israel in its intention to annex the occupied Syrian Golan.

E. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

46. On 6 June 2024, the Permanent Mission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea replied to the note verbale from OHCHR. It expressed deep concern at the systematic and continuous violations of the human rights of the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan, noting that those violations constituted crimes against humanity and contravened the Charter and international law. It stressed that all legislative and administrative measures and actions that had been taken or were to be taken by Israel, the occupying Power, such as the illegal decision of 14 December 1981 that purported to alter the legal, physical and demographic status of the occupied Syrian Golan and its institutional structure, as well as measures by Israel to apply its jurisdiction and administration to the territory, were null and void and had no legal effect.
47. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea affirmed its unwavering support for and solidarity with the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the just demand and right of the Syrian Arab Republic to restore its full sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea reiterated that the colonial policies and practices of Israel with regard to the occupation constituted clear violations of the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan.
48. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea called upon Israel to comply with all relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, in particular Security Council resolution 497 (1981), and to withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan to the lines of 4 June 1967. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea demanded that Israel cease changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan, and urged Israel to stop all illegal measures and actions, including construction and expansion of settlements, in the Syrian Golan, which had been occupied since 1967. It also called on Israel to allow Syrians in the occupied Syrian Golan to visit relatives in their Syrian motherland.
49. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea further called on the Secretary-General and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to monitor violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by Israel, and to oblige Israel as the occupying Power to put an end to its illegal settlement policies and repressive and discriminatory measures against the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan.

F. Iran (Islamic Republic of)

50. On 14 June 2024, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran responded with a note verbale to OHCHR stressing that the occupied Syrian Golan was an integral part of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic and noting that the continuation of the occupation had resulted in flagrant violations of the human rights of Syrian citizens living in the occupied territory. The Islamic Republic of Iran noted that Israel, despite frequent condemnation by the Human Rights Council, continued to suppress and restrict the Syrian residents of the territory through the construction of illegal settlements, the imposition of its own laws and regulations on the local population and the exploitation of the natural resources of the occupied land, jeopardizing the livelihoods of those living in the territory.
51. The Islamic Republic of Iran said that it had taken several measures with regard to the implementation of General Assembly resolution 78/77, including:

(a)     Condemning the policies and practices of Israel to extend its jurisdiction and laws to the occupied Syrian Golan;

(b)     Condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan and actions that forced the Syrian population to leave their homeland as part of a policy aimed at changing the demographic nature of the territory;

(c)     Supporting the right of all displaced persons to return to their homeland in the occupied Syrian Golan;

(d)     Condemning Israel for imposing Israeli citizenship on the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan;

(e)     Objecting to any recognition of the Israeli occupation of the occupied Syrian Golan;

(f)     Condemning discrimination against Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan, in particular with regard to housing, work, cultural rights and the right to education;

(g)     Insisting on the need to preserve the civilian nature of the occupied Syrian Golan and the need to ban any military activity by Israel;

(h)     Condemning the new settlement plan of Israel, including the construction of wind turbines in the occupied Syrian Golan;

(i)      Demanding that Israel stop establishing oil and gas exploration facilities in the occupied Syrian Golan.

52. The Islamic Republic of Iran demanded that Israeli aggression by air, sea and land against the Syrian Arab Republic from the occupied Syrian Golan be stopped.
53. The Islamic Republic of Iran noted that Israel continued to oppress the Syrian population living in the occupied Syrian Golan through the construction of illegal Israeli settlements, the imposition of its own laws and regulations on the local population and the misuse of the territory’s natural resources. The Islamic Republic of Iran noted that Israel had continued to apply those policies, despite the condemnation of such measures by the international community through countless Security Council resolutions.
54. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterated its long-standing position of calling for the return of the Golan Heights to the Syrian Arab Republic, and invited all States and international organizations to deplore any policy that allowed the continuation of the occupation and led to continued violations by Israel of human rights, including the rights to self-determination, health, sanitation and safe drinking water, housing, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.
55. The Islamic Republic of Iran condemned the attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on 1 April 2024 and invited all States and international organizations to condemn repeated acts of aggression by Israel.

G. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

56. In a note verbale dated 13 June 2024, the Permanent Mission of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela highlighted its position rejecting the principle of the expropriation by force of territories, and it reaffirmed all General Assembly and Security Council resolutions concerning the identity of the occupied Syrian Golan and condemned the illegal occupation of that territory by Israel.
57. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela stated that it considered all legislative or administrative actions and measures that Israel had taken, or that it might take, that purport to alter the legal status, physical character and demographic composition of the occupied Syrian Golan and its institutional structure, as well as measures to apply the jurisdiction and administration of Israel in the illegally occupied territory, to be null and void and without legal effect.
58. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela noted the lack of compliance with the Security Council resolution 497 (1981), which had had a terrible impact on the lives and human rights situation of the people living in the occupied Syrian Golan. It furthermore drew attention to the illegal and continued confiscation of land by the occupying Power, including through the intimidation and displacement of Syrian people. In that regard, it reiterated its call for General Assembly resolution 78/77, entitled “The occupied Syrian Golan”, to be implemented fully, including the immediate ending of all illegal policies, measures and practices by the occupying Power.
59. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, faithful to its historical tradition and in accordance with the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace, reiterated its position to end all occupations in all countries.