Speaking to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, two weeks after ambassadors from its member states visited Syria and Lebanon in what was billed as a trust-building exercise, Danny Danon, Israeli envoy to the global body, said that there must be a demilitarized zone in Syria, spanning from the capital Damascus to the expanded buffer zone adjacent to the Israeli border, right away.
“After Oct. 7, there can be no confusion and no room for error,” Danon told the council. “Israel will not allow Syria to become a safe place for terrorists.”
The Israeli envoy spoke during a council meeting to recap the visit to the region, after Israeli strikes on terror targets in Syria have reportedly led to strife with the Syrian leadership and the Trump administration.
“The responsibility rests with the Syrian authorities to stop this activity,” Danon told the council.
Samuel Žbogar, the Slovenian ambassador to the global body, said that “we reaffirmed our strong support for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.”
Žbogar called Israeli strikes in Syria “unjustifiable,” as Jerusalem says that it targets terrorists and their infrastructure in the country now run by Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom the United Nations formerly designated a terrorist. The Security Council lifted sanctions on him and a top government minister in recent weeks.
Two U.S. soldiers and a translator were killed in an attack carried out by ISIS days ago in Syria.
Israel has also expressed concern about the Syrian government’s lack of protection of the local Druze population, which has strong ties to the Jewish state. The community has come under attack multiple times by rival tribes, and government forces failed to intervene.
Ibrahim Olabi, the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday that “we are now building a participatory government—one that counts on Syrian expertise and reflects Syrian diversity, with no place for sectarianism.”
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the annual defense policy bill into law. It includes the removal of punishing Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, which were implemented during the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Security Council members also discussed the situation in Lebanon, where the government and army have failed to complete a mandated disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah, leading to fears of a renewed conflict between the terror group and Israel.
“While challenges and risks remain, the council left Lebanon with renewed optimism that the government is striving to strengthen its institutions, extend its sovereignty, monopolize weapons outside its control and engage politically to consolidate the cessation of hostilities,” said Žbogar, a co-lead on the mission to the region.
Ahmad Arafa, Lebanon’s U.N. envoy, told the council on Thursday that “daily Israeli violations remain among the most pressing challenges,” which threaten Beirut’s credibility in governing, he said.
On Thursday in Paris, Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolph Haikal, took part in meetings with U.S., French and Saudi officials in an effort by outside countries to aid the Lebanese Armed Forces in speeding up its disarmament of Hezbollah.
Another meeting of a committee monitoring last year’s U.S.-brokered Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire is set to take place on Friday in southern Lebanon, and is slated to include civilian representatives from Lebanon and Israel.
“Lebanon has chosen negotiations with Israel,” Arafa said on Thursday. He added that “wars cannot yield positive results and that only negotiations can create the conditions leading to stability and security.”
