Syria says Israel collaborating with militants in Golan Heights

Syria's envoy to the United Nations says Israeli regime has been collaborating with the Takfiri Daesh terrorists and al-Qaeda linked militants in the occupied Golan Heights.

Bashar Ja'afari made the remarks during a press briefing after meeting the UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, at peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday.

The Syrian official also denounced as "provocative" an Israeli cabinet meeting recently held in the occupied region.

"It is an irresponsible provocation committed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the Israeli occupation force," Ja'afari said, noting, "This Israeli provocation ... confirms without any doubt the cooperation between Israel and terrorists of Daesh and Nusra Front on the demarcation line between where the Golan is and UN troops are positioned."

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu at the beginning of a cabinet meeting in the occupied territory on Sunday ruled out any possibility of returning the occupied Golan Heights to Syria, saying Israel will lay claim to it forever.  

The Sunday meeting was held in defiance of international law that requires Israel to return Golan to Syria.

Israel’s returning of Golan to its rightful owner is part of a draft agreement being drawn up during peace talks currently under way in Geneva for the objective of ending the deadly five-year conflict in Syria.

In response to Netanyahu, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stressed that Syria will do its best to take back the occupied Golan Heights from the Israeli regime.

“All options are on the table for getting back the occupied territory from Israel,” Mekdad said in an interview aired on the Lebanese television channel al-Mayadeen, adding, “We are prepared to do anything in order to return the Golan to the Syrian motherland, including using military force.” 

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 six-day war, which created an armistice line under Israeli military control.

Israel has built tens of illegal settlements in the area ever since.

The occupied regime has also used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

Damascus says Tel Aviv and its Western and regional allies are aiding the Takfiri militant groups operating inside Syria.

The Syrian army has seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the foreign-backed militants inside Syria on numerous occasions.

According to the documents from Israeli hospitals last year, Israel has spent millions of dollars for the treatment of terrorists injured in fighting with Syrian government forces.

Israel, Saudi Arabia co-plotting against Syria

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ja'afari also accused Saudi-backed opposition groups of co-plotting with Israel.   

"It is no coincidence at all that this Israeli escalation was accompanied by irresponsible statements by members of the so-called Saudi delegation at talks here in Geneva," he said, referring to the Saudi-backed opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC).

The HNC has threatened to walk out of the current round of talks unless progress is made over demands for a political transition without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

However, Syrian officials have rejected the “dream” of a transitional government without Assad, saying such ideas are nothing short of a “coup d’etat.” 

A ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect on February 27 across Syria. The truce agreement does not apply to Daesh and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

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