Merve Aydogan
18 July 2025•Update: 18 July 2025
HAMILTON, Canada
A senior UN official warned Thursday that Israel's continued airstrikes in Syria are threatening regional stability and undermining Syria's fragile recovery process at a critical moment.
"In addition to violating Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Israel’s actions undermine a force to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region and further destabilize Syria at a sensitive time," Khaled Khiari, UN assistant secretary-general for the Middle East and Asia and the Pacific, told the UN Security Council.
Khiari reiterated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' "condemnation of Israel’s escalatory airstrikes, including on Suwayda, Daraa and in the center of the capital, Damascus." He stressed that the strikes violate Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also urged both sides to respect the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement and to avoid any action that could further erode the fragile ceasefire in the Golan Heights.
On the ground, Khiari said there were troubling reports of renewed violence targeting Bedouin communities following the withdrawal of Damascus security forces.
He welcomed Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara's pledge to investigate violations and called for the probe to be "transparent and in line with international standards."
Khiari reaffirmed the UN's readiness to support "an inclusive and credible political transition that ensures accountability, fosters national healing and lays the foundation for Syria’s long-term recovery and prosperity."
