Syria: Taking Back Golan Heights is an Inalienable Right

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
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Syria: Taking Back Golan Heights is an Inalienable Right

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad during his meeting with UN officials (SANA)

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad reiterated his country’s firm right to recover the occupied Golan Heights, noting that the presence of the peacekeeping forces is not a substitute for ending the occupation.

Mikdad stressed the importance of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) operating in the Golan Heights under the mandate stipulated per the relevant Security Council resolution, according to State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA).

Mikdad met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, Mohamed Khaled el-Khiari.

During the meeting, the minister reiterated the Syrian government's support to UNDOF to fully implement the mandate entrusted to it, specifically monitoring the disengagement and detection of Israeli violations of the Separation of Forces Agreement represented by its reaccuring attacks on Syrian sovereignty.

He also condemned recent statements by the US administration, which ignored the United Nations resolutions recognizing the Golan Heights as an occupied Syrian Arab land.



Hamas Armed Wing Says Will Abide by Gaza Truce According to 'Enemy's Commitment'

Fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, escort vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square in western Gaza City on January 19, 2025. (AFP)
Fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, escort vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square in western Gaza City on January 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Hamas Armed Wing Says Will Abide by Gaza Truce According to 'Enemy's Commitment'

Fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, escort vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square in western Gaza City on January 19, 2025. (AFP)
Fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, escort vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Saraya Square in western Gaza City on January 19, 2025. (AFP)

The armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas said on Sunday it would observe a ceasefire in Gaza as long as Israel does the same, hours after the truce took effect.

"We and the resistance factions declare our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, while stressing that all of this is contingent on the enemy's commitment," said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam armed wing, in a video message.

Israel and mediating nation Qatar confirmed on Sunday a long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza had come into effect after an almost three-hour delay as Israel awaited the names of the three hostages Hamas would free initially.

Under the ceasefire plan, a total of 33 hostages taken by fighters during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel will be returned from Gaza during an initial 42-day phase.

Obeida also warned that Israel's "continued occupation of our land will affect the entire region and the world".

He added that the international community's involvement in what he called the occupation of Gaza "will be a disaster for the occupation and all its supporters".