Syria does not intend to cede Golan Heights: Al-Sharaa

At an Atlantic Council panel the day before, the Syrian president said he openly told Trump he had no right to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, quipping that the US president should give New Jersey to Israel instead, Euronews reports.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed in front of the UN General Assembly Wednesday that the Golan Heights region will remain Syrian despite Israel's claims over the strategically important territory.

"Any attempts that violate our sovereignty, violate international law, will be stopped. Golan will remain Syrian territories," al-Sharaa said at the UN meeting of world leaders in New York.

The US had been the only country to recognise Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981, which it captured from Syria in 1967, until Colombia's new hard-right government in August recognised Israel's claim.

The UN maintains that the plateau is Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation, previously declaring Israel's 1981 annexation of the territory "null and void".

In July UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that the Golan Heights were part of Syria, describing Israeli occupation as "totally unacceptable".

Al-Sharaa also used his second turn at the UN rostrum since ousting former dictator Bashar al-Assad in a blitz offensive in December 2024 to denounce repeated Israeli strikes on his country.

"Israel is launching attacks against Syria. There have been 500 air strikes, more than 1,200 incursions, and 300 detentions. This is at odds with the orientation we're seeing at global level," he said.

"It is reminiscent of a era that we thought was long gone."

Yet Al-Sharaa held out hope that "the opportunity for peace and security is available to those who wish to live in peace, a just peace that maintains the rights of all."