UN Security Council voices "deep concern" over Israeli statements on Golan Heights

The UN Security Council on Tuesday expressed its "deep concern" at recent Israeli statements about the Golan Heights, stressing the status of the occupied Golan Heights on the Syrian border with Israel "remains unchanged."

The remarks came as Liu Jieyi, the permanent representative of China which holds the rotating council presidency for April, was speaking to reporters here after a closed-door council meeting on the Golan Heights.

"The council members expressed their deep concern over recent Israeli statements about the Golan, and stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged," Liu said.

The council resolution 497 of 1981 made it clear that Israel's decision at the time to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the Golan was "null and void and without international legal effect," he said.

On April 17, Isareli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would not give up on the annexed Golan Heights. The Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights has not won international recognition.

"Israel will never relinquish the Golan Heights," Netanyahu said at the start of the first ever cabinet meeting on the contested territory. "The time has come after 40 years for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain forever under Israeli sovereignty."

Israel seized the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed it in 1981, a move never recognized by the international community.

Israeli media reported that the remarks were made due to fears that Israel might come under pressure to return the strategic ridge to Syrian hands amidst talks to settle the war in Syria. Endit