Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has urged Israel to “immediately withdraw” its forces from the United Nations-designated buffer zone with Syria.
This was after Israeli troops entered the area following the ouster of Syria’s long time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Sheikh Mohammed, who spoke with de facto Syrian ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa at a news conference in Damascus on Thursday, criticised Israeli plans to capture area near the Golan Heights in southern Syria.
Sheikh Mohammed said, “The Israeli occupation’s seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless … act, and it must immediately withdraw,”.
Following the overthrow of al-Assad by opposition fighters commanded by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Israel sent armed units to the buffer zone that runs along the Golan Heights and separates Syria and Israel.
As part of the 1974 UN-brokered truce, the territory was officially recognized as a demilitarized zone.
As its soldiers moved into the area, Israel unleashed hundreds of air attacks across Syria. It said that its airstrikes were part of a mission to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of “extremists,” a word it has used to describe various Syrian factions, including HTS.
Al-Sharaa said at the news conference that his country is ready to welcome UN forces into the buffer zone.
Sheikh Mohammed also promised to support the new administration and the rehabilitation of Syria’s infrastructure, devastated by nearly 14 years of war.
“We will provide the necessary technical support to make the infrastructure operational again and provide support to the electricity sector,” he said, adding that Qatar “extends its hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships”.
He also called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted and highlighted that “sanctions will have a negative impact on the support provided to Syria and the Syrian people.”
