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Guterres visits Damascus
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres began his first visit to Syria as UN chief nearly two years after the fall of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, urging the international community to support the people of Syria and criticizing Israel’s actions in the country’s south.
“United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the international community to support the people of Syria and criticised Israel’s actions in the country’s south as he kicked off his first visit to the Arab nation as the UN chief, nearly two years after the fall of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad”
Guterres met with Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, toured Damascus’s old quarter and the Umayyad Mosque, and visited the Saydnaya military prison just north of Damascus.
In a message posted at the start of his three-day visit, Guterres said, “I have just arrived in Damascus for a visit of solidarity,” and he added that the United Nations stands with Syria at this “pivotal moment.”
Guterres said he would appeal for “spare no effort to support the people of Syria,” while the UN News service described Syria as standing at “a moment of possibility” as it tries to recover from more than a decade of conflict.
The sources also tied the visit to the scale of Syria’s recovery needs, with the UN describing a nation emerging from “more than a decade of conflict” and WRAL citing a World Bank assessment that rebuilding Syria is expected to cost about $216 billion.
Golan called unacceptable
At a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Guterres condemned developments around the Golan Heights, saying “What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is totally unacceptable.”
Kurdistan24 reported that Guterres voiced concern over rising tensions around the Golan Heights as Syria renewed its call for an Israeli withdrawal from the UN-monitored buffer zone.
The New Indian Express quoted Guterres underscoring “Violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease,” and it also recorded his reminder that “the Golan Heights are Syrian territory.”
Syrian officials framed the issue as a direct threat to regional security, with al-Shaibani saying “the continuation of Israeli military actions and the unlawful occupation of our land beyond the 1974 line is a direct threat to the security of the region.”
WRAL added that Guterres reiterated the UN’s recognition of the Golan Heights as Syrian territory “without limitations,” while the sources also noted Israel captured the Golan Heights during the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981.
Recovery, sanctions, and next steps
Beyond sovereignty, the UN chief linked the visit to Syria’s recovery and the need for international support, with WRAL saying the UN chief appealed to “spare no effort to support the people of Syria” during a “pivotal moment.”
UN News described the UN’s message as a call for partnership and solidarity, quoting Guterres that “Syria's recovery is a humanitarian imperative – and it is also an investment in development, in peace and regional stability.”
WRAL said Syria is trying to recover from the civil war that broke out in March 2011 and killed nearly half a million people, and it cited the UN estimate that 90% of Syria’s population lives in poverty.
The sources also described what comes next during the visit, with Al Jazeera saying Guterres was expected to address Syria’s new parliament on Monday and would hold talks with government officials and representatives of Syrian civil society.
Al Jazeera further stated that the visit would include a field tour to inspect the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) stationed in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, as part of efforts to monitor compliance with the 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel.
