Netanyahu: World must recognize occupied Golan as Israel’s

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the international community should recognize as “Israeli territory” the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory which has been under the regime’s occupation for over five decades.

“Israel on the Golan Heights is a fact that the international community must recognize and as long as it depends on me, the Golan Heights will always remain under Israeli sovereignty,” Netanyahu said on Monday during a visit to the occupied territory.

The premier claimed that if Israel withdraws from the occupied Golan, the regime will find itself with Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah on the “shores of the Kinneret (sea of Galilee)” in the northern part of occupied territories.

Iran and Hezbollah are “trying constantly to establish a force opposite us that would operate against the Golan Heights and the Galilee,” he claimed.

Israel is deeply angered by Iran’s military advisory assistance to Syrian armed forces in their operations against the terrorist groups, which have the backing of Tel Aviv and its allies.

Iran’s presence in Syria comes at the request of the government in Damascus.

Hezbollah forces have also been assisting the Syrian government on the ground to clear areas bordering Lebanon from terrorist groups.

Israel has been on high alert in recent days as Syrian government forces have made significant gains against foreign-backed terrorists near the Golan Heights.

Tel Aviv has frequently attacked military targets inside Syria in an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces.

Tel Aviv has also carried out sporadic strikes against Syrian forces to blunt their advances against terrorists.

The Syrian army has also repeatedly seized huge quantities of Israeli-made weapons and advanced military equipment from the militant groups.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and has continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since, in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

The Tel Aviv regime has built tens of illegal settlements in the area since its occupation and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government

Tel Aviv  has also been pressing the US administration under Israel-friendly President Donald Trump to recognize its claim to sovereignty over the occupied territory in defiance of international law,

Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.

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