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Qatar\u2019s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has demanded that Israel \u201cimmediately withdraw\u201d its forces from the United Nations-established buffer zone with Syria after Israeli troops entered the area following the downfall of Syria\u2019s ruler Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Thursday at a news conference in Damascus alongside de facto Syrian ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, Sheikh Mohammed criticized Israeli moves to occupy the territory near the Golan Heights in southern Syria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Israeli occupation\u2019s seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless \u2026 act, and it must immediately withdraw,\u201d Sheikh Mohammed said.<\/p>\n
Israel deployed military units last month to the\u00a0buffer zone, which lies along the Golan Heights and separates Syria and Israel, after al-Assad was toppled by opposition fighters led by al-Sharaa\u2019s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group. The area has been an officially designated demilitarised zone as part of a 1974 UN-brokered ceasefire.<\/p>\n
As its troops encroached on the area, Israel also launched hundreds of air strikes across Syria. It said its air attacks were part of a campaign to stop weapons from landing in the hands of \u201cextremists\u201d, a term it has applied to several groups in Syria, including HTS.<\/p>\n
Al-Sharaa said at the news conference that his country is ready to welcome UN forces into the buffer zone.<\/p>\n
Sheikh Mohammed also promised to support the new administration and the rehabilitation of Syria\u2019s infrastructure, devastated by nearly 14 years of war.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will provide the necessary technical support to make the infrastructure operational again and provide support to the electricity sector,\u201d he said, adding that Qatar \u201cextends its hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.<\/p>\n
This month, the US Department of the Treasury\u00a0issued\u00a0a general licence lasting six months that authorises certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.<\/p>\n
The action does not remove any sanctions but will ensure they \u201cdo not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance\u201d, the Treasury Department said.<\/p>\n
The EU has\u00a0agreed\u00a0to meet at the end of January to discuss lifting sanctions on Syria.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n