At UN, Syria’s Sharaa slams Israeli attacks, commits to 1974 disengagement, seeks dialogue

Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in his address to the UN General Assembly, condemns ongoing Israeli strikes in his country, and says Damascus is committed to the 1974 Disengagement of Forces agreement between Israel and Syria.

Sharaa also says Syria stands “with the people of Gaza, its children and women” and calls for an immediate end to the war there.

Channel 12 reports this evening that the US is seeking to arrange a meeting in New York between Sharaa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump in the coming days.

Sharaa, the first Syrian president to address the Assembly in some six decades, denounces the Assad regime for using “the worst torture against our people, the chemical weapons, and bombardment… It has torn our country apart and brought forth fighters from around the world. The former regime killed around a million innocent people and displaced thousands and millions and demolished 2 million homes.”

He says the Syrian people “had no choice but to organize militarily to oust a criminal regime. It was a military operation,” he says, “that prioritized tolerance and that did not target civilians. It targeted justice without vengeance. We restored our rights and we became victorious.”

Accordingly, he says, “Syria has transformed from an exporter of crisis to an opportunity for peace for Syria and the region.”

He vows “to try to uproot sectarianism and to fight against attempts to divide our country once again.”

He protests that “Israeli strikes and attacks against my country continue,” in contrast to the internationally supportive position for Syria, and says this “threatens new crises and struggles in our region.”

“In the face of this aggression, Syria is committed to dialogue,” he says, “and we are committed to the disengagement of the Forces Agreement of 1974. We call on the international community to stand beside us in the face of these attacks.”

Israel, in December, moved to capture territory in the border buffer zone and said that the 1974 agreement was temporarily void until order had been restored in Syria following the ousting of the Assad regime by Sharaa’s rebel forces.

The Syrian leader calls for the complete lifting of remaining sanctions on the country, and pledges that Damascus is “building institutions and laws that guarantee the rights of all without exception… We are determined to restore Syria’s glory, dignity, and honor.”

Syria, he declares, “is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world.”

He thanks “everyone who stood by the Syrian cause,” and specifies “Turkey, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and all Arab and Islamic States, the United States of America, and the European Union.”

Concluding, Sharaa says that “the suffering Syria endured we wish upon no one. We are among the people most deeply aware of the horrors of war and destruction. For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Gaza, its children and women, and all people facing violations and aggression. We call for an immediate end to the war.”