Israel represents the greatest danger to stability in the Middle East, Syria has warned the UN Security Council.
Permanent Representative to the UN Ibrahim Olabi told council members on Thursday that Israeli aggression constitutes "the greatest threat facing the stability of the entire region, not just Syria".
He pointed to an emergency declaration by 44 nations outside the council chamber that condemned a high-level visit by Israeli leadership to Mount Hermon as an unlawful act and a "blatant violation" of international law.
He emphasised that while Damascus approached US-sponsored security talks in good faith, Israel "responded to dialogue with airstrikes, incursions, and violations and attacks."
He underscored that pursuing a diplomatic arrangement does not mean Damascus will "accept occupation or relinquish the rights of our people," while defending bilateral cooperation with regional partners as an exercise of sovereign state consent.
Rejecting Israeli claims on communal divisions, Olabi asserted that Syrian Kurds have integrated into state institutions, Syrian Jews are "back renovating their synagogues" and Druze figures who "rejected foreign support" are now in the parliament.
Moreover, relaying a message from the UN chief, UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Claudio Cordone said “violations of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity must cease” and the 1974 Disengagement Agreement must be respected.
Cordone said Israel’s military presence in southern Syria directly breached the agreement through “near daily incursions, temporary checkpoints, searches of homes and artillery fire”, particularly in Quneitra and western Daraa.
He said security concerns could not be addressed sustainably through unilateral military action or an open-ended military presence. His remarks followed a September 9 visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Israeli forces deployed on Mount Hermon.
Cordone also said tensions in Suwayda should be resolved by Syrians “without disruptive foreign interference” under the September 2025 roadmap.
Israel has occupied Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967 and unilaterally annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognised internationally.
Following the fall of Bashar al Assad’s government on December 8, 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of Syrian territory and took control of the buffer zone and positions on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
Fuel prices, displacement add pressure
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher warned that shipping disruptions across the Bab al Mandeb Strait and Strait of Hormuz were driving up freight and insurance costs and lengthening supply times into Syria.
A 40 percent rise in diesel prices this week threatened bakeries, water pumping and winter heating, Fletcher said. The minimum expenditure basket has also risen 33 percent since June 2025, forcing aid agencies to halve food rations for the most vulnerable families as food and education programmes remain only 26 percent funded.
More than 2 million internally displaced people and 1.8 million refugees have voluntarily returned since December 2024.
Still, 5.5 million people remain displaced across Syria, including nearly 800,000 living in camps where women and children make up more than 75 percent of residents.
Explosive ordnance remains a major obstacle to recovery, killing 880 people, including 269 children, and injuring 1,616 since late 2024. Fletcher said contamination was also blocking access to agricultural land.
“You cannot build an economy over a minefield,” he said.
He also urged international donors to convene a dedicated reconstruction conference and help address private-sector banking over compliance.
