US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack has said Israel’s occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights continues even though it ran against UN resolutions and international law.
Barrack’s remarks put him at odds with his own government, as US President Donald Trump recognised Israeli sovereignty over the territory in 2019.
Golan Heights, a strategic plateau straddling Israel and Syria and overlooking southern Lebanon, was captured by Israel during the Middle East war of 1967 and subsequently annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
UN resolution 242 calls for Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights and other occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Some 20,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the Golan, alongside around 26,000 of the territory’s native inhabitants, who are predominantly Druze and identify as Syrian.
