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UN adopting a more even-handed approach on Syria: Commentator

Friday, 01 March 2019 2:10 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 March 2019 2:15 PM ]

An Israeli army Merkava tank takes part in a military drill in the occupied Golan Heights on February 12, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations is adopting a more “even-handed approach” on Syria, says a political commentator, adding that the course of events is turning in favor of Damascus not only on the battlefield but also in the diplomatic arena.

The comments came after UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen underlined Syria’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, rejecting a US congressional motion to recognize Israel's annexation of the occupied territory.

"The reference to these territorial integrity, the reference to Syrian sovereignty, all of these points have been underscored and emphasized by the Syrian government itself and by the Syrian leadership itself. So I think what we are witnessing is a much more even-handed UN approach… So it appears to me that not just on the battlefield but also in the diplomatic arena, in the UN arena, things appear as well to be going in favor of the Syrian government,” Ali Rizk told Press TV in an interview on Friday.

“There are players who don’t want a Syria with territorial integrity, who don’t want an independent Syria contrary to Pederson’s remarks and I think these players will continue to do their utmost to prolong the Syrian war. So I think that we won’t see results immediately – those words by Pederson won’t be translated into action immediately - but nevertheless they are significant," the commentator said, adding that Israel would "try and sabotage any progress being made towards a united Syria.”

Israeli officials have long pushed for US recognition of the Tel Aviv regime’s sovereignty claims over the territory, which was seized from Syria in 1967.

This comes as the UN has time and again stressed Syria’s sovereignty over the occupied heights. Back in December 2018, the majority of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Israeli regime to withdraw from the entirety of the Syrian Golan Heights.

The resolution, titled The Syrian Golan, was adopted by a record vote of 99 in favor, 10 against and 66 abstentions. It declared that the Israeli controversial move to extend its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied mountainous plateau is null and void and called on Tel Aviv to leave the strategically-important territory.