Official announcements from the Qatari government or international financial reports

Qatar Demands Israel Withdraw from Syria Buffer Zone on Golan Heights, Supports UN Forces

Jan 16, 2025, 02:38 PM

Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has demanded that Israel immediately withdraw its forces from the buffer zone with Syria along the Golan Heights. This call was made during a news conference in Damascus alongside Ahmed al-Sharaa, the de facto leader of Syria. The buffer zone, established by the United Nations as part of a 1974 ceasefire, was entered by Israeli troops following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Sheikh Mohammed condemned Israel's occupation of the area as a reckless act. Al-Sharaa stated that Israel's justification for advancing into the buffer zone was the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah, a pretext he claims is no longer valid after the liberation of Damascus by opposition fighters led by his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. He also expressed Syria's readiness to welcome UN forces into the buffer zone to restore the situation to its pre-Israeli advancement state. Sheikh Mohammed also pledged Qatar's support for the new Syrian administration and the rehabilitation of the country's infrastructure, devastated by years of war, including providing technical support to restore essential services. He called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria, which have been imposed by the US and the EU.