Syria calls for UN Security Council meeting on Golan

NEW YORK

Syria is calling on the UN Security Council to hold an urgent meeting over the Golan Heights, according to some diplomatic sources.

Syria’s call came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan as Israeli territory.

According to the UN, the Golan’s legal status will remain unchanged -- despite Trump’s announcement -- and still be considered “occupied territory” under international law.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and continues to occupy roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights region as a direct result of the conflict.

In 1981, Israel formally annexed the territory, in a move unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.

* Writing by Nilay Kar Onum