Arab League condemns Israeli incursions into Syrian buffer zone

CAIRO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) has adopted a resolution condemning Israel's military incursions into the Syrian buffer zone and adjacent positions after an Egypt-initiated emergency meeting, announced Egypt's Foreign Ministry on Friday.

The emergency meeting was held Thursday to formulate a unified Arab position on expanded Israeli occupation in the annexed Golan Heights, which the AL described as a flagrant violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, the ministry said in a statement.

The AL resolution emphasized that the disengagement agreement remains effective as per UN Security Council Resolution 350, unaffected by Syria's political upheaval, the statement added.

It urged international pressure on Israel to comply with UN Resolution 497 in 1981, which states that the Israeli exercise of sovereign rights in the Golan Heights is "null and void." The Cairo-based pan-Arab organization also demanded Israeli withdrawal from occupied Syrian territory.

Since the downfall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government on Sunday, Israel has significantly increased airstrikes across Syria, along with ground operations targeting Syrian critical military infrastructure. In addition, Israel declared the 1974 UN-monitored disengagement agreement with Syria defunct following the end of al-Assad's rule, and its military then crossed into the demilitarized buffer zone established under the agreement, seizing border areas. ■