Syria to Netanyahu: Golan Ours, All Options on Table

Local Editor

In response to the "Israeli" premier's threats to continue occupying the Golan Heights, Syria vowed that it will do whatever it takes to take back the occupied Golan Heights from the Zionist entity.

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad made the announcement on Sunday, in response to remarks made earlier by "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claimed "the Golan Heights will remain in the hands of "Israel" forever," during the regime's first cabinet meeting in the occupied territory.

Noting that the occupied region belongs to Syria according to international law, Mekdad stressed that the Arab Syrian Golan Heights will be taken back from the "Israelis".

"All options are on the table for getting back the occupied territory from "Israel"," he said during an interview aired on the Lebanese television channel al-Mayadeen.

Netanyahu vowed Sunday that the "Israeli"-annexed Golan Heights would "forever" remain in his country's hands as his cabinet held its first meeting in the territory.

"The Golan Heights will remain in the hands of "Israel" forever," Netanyahu said at the start of the cabinet meeting, in comments broadcast on public radio.

""Israel" will never withdraw from the Golan Heights."

"Israeli" media have reported that Netanyahu planned the cabinet meeting as a statement amid fears "Israel" could come under pressure to return the Golan -- which it seized from Syria in 1967 -- as part of a future peace deal for its war-torn neighbor.

Haaretz newspaper quoted officials from Netanyahu's office as saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had demanded as part of peace talks that the Golan "be considered occupied territory that must be returned to Syria."

Urging the international community to recognize "Israel's" claim on the territory, Netanyahu said he told US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night that it was doubtful Syria can return to what it was.

"The time has come for the international community to recognize reality, especially two basic facts," Netanyahu said.

"One, whatever is beyond the border, the boundary itself will not change. Two, after 50 years, the time has come for the international community to finally recognize that the Golan Heights will remain under "Israel's" sovereignty permanently."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team