UN Security Council calls emergency meeting on Golan Heights
(VOVWORLD) - The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting at Syria’s request on Wednesday to discuss US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
 UN Security Council calls an emergency meeting on Golan Heights on March 26th, 2019 (Photo: VNA) |
France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said consultations on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) were transformed into a session on the situation in the Middle East that covered both the UNDOF and the situation in the Golan Heights. The Council was not expected to release a statement because that would require a consensus among all 15 Council members, including the US.
Syria made the request in a letter sent Tuesday to France, which currently holds the Council presidency, calling Donald Trump's decision a flagrant violation of UN resolutions. Trump signed a proclamation on Monday in which the US recognized Israel's annexation of the strategic plateau.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and formally annexed the strategic plateau in 1981, a move protested by the international community.
Despite the US’s change of position, all the EU countries still considered the Golan Heights to be occupied Syrian territory.