Israel has no justification to keep its forces inside a UN-demarcated buffer zone inside Syria now that Iran and its allied groups have been banished from the country, de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday.
“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all,” al-Sharaa said in a joint press conference with Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Thani.
“There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” al-Sharaa said, adding that he would welcome the United Nations peace-keeping forces there.
Israeli military units advanced to the UN-designated demilitarized region that separates Israeli and Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan Heights after president Bashar al-Assad was ousted by opposition forces led by al-Sharaa’s radical Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Al-Sharaa called on Qatar and western powers to help push the Israelis out of the buffer zone.
“Qatar no doubt has a big role to play,” he said. “They will play an active role in continuing to exercise pressure [on Israel to withdraw] together with Western and European nations and the United States of America.”
The Qatari prime minister seconded al-Sharaa’s call for Israel’s withdrawal.
“The Israeli occupation’s seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless and provocative act, and it must immediately withdraw,” he told reporters.
The call for UN peacekeepers in the buffer zone raises the possibility of new mediation efforts, but it remains unclear whether key players including those al-Sharaa mentioned will push for such measures.
