UN Security Council extends mandate of peacekeeping force on Golan

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-27 02:07:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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UNITED NATIONS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights for six months till Dec. 31, 2019.

The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan is tasked to maintain a cease-fire between Israel and Syria since 1974.

Resolution 2477, which won unanimous support of the 15-member council, stresses the obligation of both parties to fully respect the terms of the 1974 cease-fire, and calls on them to exercise "maximum restraint" and prevent any breaches of the cease-fire and the area of separation (buffer zone).

It underscores that there should be no military activity of any kind in the buffer zone, including military operations by Syrian government forces and by Syrian armed opposition groups.

The resolution calls on all groups other than UNDOF to abandon all UNDOF positions, and return the peacekeepers' vehicles, weapons, and other equipment.

The resolution requests the UN secretary-general to report every 90 days on developments in the situation.

UNDOF was established in May 1974 following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

The situation in UNDOF's area of operations had been quiet until the spillover of the Syrian civil war in 2012. The mission's observation role has been significantly reduced since its September 2014 relocation from the Bravo (Syrian) side to the Alpha (Israeli-occupied) side because of the Syrian civil war.

Wednesday's resolution encourages Syria and Israel to engage constructively to facilitate necessary arrangements with UNDOF for the force's phased return to the buffer zone.

It also welcomes UNDOF's ongoing efforts to consolidate its presence and to intensify its operations in the buffer zone, including the mission's intent to resume inspections in the "area of limitation" on the Syrian side -- an extension of 25 km from the Bravo line.

It calls for support of the parties to allow for the full utilization of the Quneitra crossing in the buffer zone to allow UNDOF to increase its operations on the Bravo side to facilitate effective and efficient mandate implementation.

Before its closure in 2014, Quneitra was used for humanitarian crossings, facilitated by UNDOF and in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In March 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan. It turned out that Wednesday's Security Council action was not affected by the U.S. position.

Immediately after the U.S. proclamation, the United Nations said its policy on the Israeli-occupied Golan remained unchanged.

Israel seized parts of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the occupied territory in 1981. Immediately after the annexation, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 497, which declared that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights "is null and void and without international legal effect."

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