Arab condemnation and rejection of Washington's recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights

DUBAI (AFP) – US President Donald Trump has recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Israel occupied the Golan during the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981 in a movement that has not been recognized by the international community.

Saudi Arabia has declared its "total rejection and condemnation" of Washington 's recognition of Israel' s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, claiming that it is about "no". an "occupied Syrian Arab land", according to a statement from the official SPA news agency.

Saudi Arabia said in a statement that Trump's decision "constitutes a clear violation of the UN Charter and the principles of international law," warning "of the significant negative effects on the peace process in the country. Middle East".

The United Arab Emirates also expressed "deep regret and condemnation" for the US decision, stressing that this decision "undermined the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region". Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain also condemned the decision of the United States.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the US decision, saying it "persisted in the coup d'état against the positions and policies of previous administrations and in an explicit aggression against the rights of Arabs and in violation blatant international legitimacy and its resolutions ".

The Palestinian ministry confirmed that Trump's recognition "will not change the reality of the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights and the Arab and Palestinian territories, and that the Golan will remain an integral part of our sister Syria".

Last year, Trump admitted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Israeli embassy was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision that was rejected by former US presidents and which provoked widespread condemnation of the Arabs. US-Palestinian relations have been tense since then.

Russian State Duma Speaker Vumacheslav Volodin said in Moscow on Tuesday that Trump's decision was "a dark day in the world and an arbitrary act that contradicts the international legitimacy that protects borders between countries".

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim, on his Twitter account, stressed that the occupied Golan should be considered as "an authentic Syrian territory, which should be returned to Syrian sovereignty in its entirety and in accordance with the resolutions of the Syrian Arab Republic." Security Council".

A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "The aging of the occupation period in the hands of the lands it occupied does not confer on it the legitimacy of sovereignty," noting that Iraq supports the international legitimacy resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council, which provides for the end of occupation: the United States gives "legitimacy to the occupation and is contrary to international law".

On Monday, Damascus saw the US decision as a "blatant attack" on its sovereignty.

The Syrian government has suspended Washington's recognition of the annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan to Israel: "In a blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, the US president has recognized the Annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan to the entity of the Zionist occupation ".

"Trump has neither the legal right nor the legal capacity to legitimize occupation and to violate the territory of others by force," an official source told the state department. "This aggressive policy" makes "the region and the world vulnerable to all dangers".

Jordan rejected Trump's decision, noting that "it does not change the fact that the occupied Golan is a Syrian territory". Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement that "the Kingdom's position is clear and consistent in refusing the annexation of Israel by the occupied Golan and rejecting any resolution recognizing this annexation" .

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned "in the strongest terms" the US's recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, calling it "false in form and form." in its content ".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the United States' recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights as "historic" and said these heights would remain under Israeli control forever. "We will never abandon them," he said.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that the legal status of the Golan Heights "has not changed" after the decision of the US President.