Syria slams Trump, vows to recover Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

Trump said on Thursday it was time to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that Israel seized from Syria in 1967, marking a dramatic shift in US policy and giving a boost to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of his re-election campaign.

Members of the Druze community holds Syrian and Druze flags as they sit facing Syria, during a rally marking the anniversary of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (REUTERS)

The Syrian government condemned on Friday US President Donald Trump’s statement that it was time to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Syria was determined to recover the area “through all available means”.

In a statement published by the Syrian state news agency, a foreign ministry source said Trump’s statement showed “the blind bias of the United States” towards Israel. It did not change “the reality that the Golan was and will remain Syrian, Arab,” the source said.

“The Syrian nation is more determined to liberate this precious piece of Syrian national land through all available means,” the source said, adding that Trump’s statement was “irresponsible” and showed “contempt” for international law.

EXPLAINED | What is the significance of the Golan Heights?

Trump said on Thursday it was time to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that Israel seized from Syria in 1967, marking a dramatic shift in US policy and giving a boost to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of his re-election campaign.

The disputed area was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. Netanyahu has pressed the United States to recognize its claim and raised that possibility in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017.

First uploaded on: 22-03-2019 at 12:31 IST

‘Arrow towards mosque’ gesture lands BJP’s Hyderabad candidate in hot water

IndiaUpdated: April 18, 2024 23:17 IST

The BJP candidate from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, Kompella Madhavi Latha, has courted controversy after a video of her gesturing to shoot an arrow, purportedly in the direction of a mosque, came to light. Latha was participating in a Ram Navmi procession near Siddi Junction in old Hyderabad, and riding an open-top vehicle.

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