Gaza militants launch rockets toward Israel after strike on Hamas chief's office - Fox News

Gaza militants launched at least 10 rockets Monday evening in their latest barrage of fire after Israeli forces struck key targets including the offices of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The barrage of rockets from Gaza hit Israeli towns around the border, including a house in the town of Sderot. No one was injured.

Sirens could be heard wailing in southern Israel amid the latest rocket fire.

Israel's strikes had come in response to a rocket attack from the Palestinian territory earlier Monday. It also came amid a bolster in Israeli troops and rocket-defense systems ahead of what is expected to be a new round of battle with the Islamic militant group.

NETANYAHU CUTS SHORT WASHINGTON TRIP, MOBILIZES MILITARY AFTER GAZA ROCKET ATTACK WOUNDS 7

"Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared earlier Monday during a White House meeting with President Trump.

"Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression," he said. "We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state."

Ahead of the Israeli airstrikes, Hamas' leadership went into hiding. In both blasts, Israel fired warning shots to evacuate the buildings.

"This morning, a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at central Israel," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. "In response, IDF fighter jets recently targeted the office of Hamas Chairman, Ismail Haniyeh in the northern Gaza Strip neighborhood of Rimal. The building which was struck hosts many military meetings and was previously struck during Operation 'Pillar of Defense' in 2012," the IDF said.  
 
"This prominent Hamas building is used for terror purposes by Hamas. It was targeted alongside IDF strikes conducted throughout the Gaza Strip. Hamas is responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it."

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Netanyahu was presented with a “bank of targets” that were gathered ahead of time by the IDF, as is custom, but this time they were called “Otzem targets” or bigger targets. Netanyahu approved all of the targets, one by one.

The latest escalation of violence began early Monday when a rocket fired from Gaza struck a home in central Israel, wounding seven people. Israel has vowed to respond "forcefully," raising the prospect of a fourth war between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.

The early morning rocket, fired from the Gaza Strip, demolished a residential house, leaving it in ruins, with tiles, broken furniture and debris scattered about. A shattered baby's crib lay among the rubble and two family dogs died in the explosion.

Anticipating a strong Israeli response, Gaza's Hamas leaders have apparently gone underground. Witnesses reported seeing Hamas evacuating its personnel from government premises. Hamas also announced its Gaza chief, Yehiya Sinwar, had canceled a scheduled public speech. Israel also shut down its main crossings into Gaza and imposed restrictions on fishing off the Gazan coast.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Fox News' Trey Yingst, Lucia I. Suarez Sang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-03-25 19:34:24Z
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Israeli military strikes Hamas targets in Gaza - Aljazeera.com

The Israeli military has begun striking Hamas targets throughout Gaza according to local residents and the Israeli military. 

Hamas radio reports bombing has destroyed the office of leader Ismail Haniya.

Residents in the northern part of the Gaza Strip reported hearing the sounds of explosions on Monday evening. Local media reported  that air strikes landed in an agricultural area east of Khan Younis in Gaza's south.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said several empty buildings associated with Hamas have been hit. 

"We've seen several plumes of smoke coming up from the Gaza skyline behind us and we've seen confirmation from the Israeli military that these strikes have begun.

Flames and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

"From our colleagues inside Gaza, we're hearing that so far, the targets seem to have been empty training camps associated with Hamas' military wing [...] also a sea base as well," Fawcett said. 

Later he said a building "right in the middle of densely populated Gaza city" had been "entirely destroyed".

Ambulances were on the scene, but there had four small warning explosions prior to the largest one that flattened the building that may have allowed people to get out of the area. 

Israel said it had destroyed Hamas' military intelligence headquarters.  

The military action came after a rocket, allegedly fired from the Gaza Strip, struck a home in central Israel on early Monday, wounding seven.

Israel has blamed Hamas for the attack. 

When asked whether the group was responsible for the rocket launch towards Israel on Monday Hamas spokesman Abdullatif al-Kanoo, told Al Jazeera:

"The Israelis continue to impose a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip and practice all kinds of aggression against Palestinians … Therefore, the Israeli occupation should bear the consequences of its actions against our people in Gaza and the West Bank and in Jerusalem as well.

Hamas will not leave our people undeterred … the resistance will strike back if needed".

He condemned the Israeli response. 

"The current Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip reflects its criminal nature. The Palestinian resistance will not allow the occupation to oppress its people."

Warnings to civilians 

Hamas' political chief Haniya called for unity to address Israeli attacks 

"The Palestinian cause is being attacked on various fronts - in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as inside Israeli jails.

"We must face this onslaught with a united national front, and in coordination with our Arab allies ... Our people and the resistance will not surrender if the occupation crosses red lines".

Ashraf al-Qudrah, spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry, said hospitals and medical points across the strip are ready and on high alert. 

The health ministry has also called on residents to take precautions as Israel begins to launch strikes across Gaza. 

Israel issued a similar warning about an hour before the raids began, telling Israeli residents to open bomb shelters in the expectation of potential rocket fire coming from inside Gaza in response.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "gravely concerned" by the recent developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip and urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

'Uninhabitable' 

The escalation comes 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv – in which Hamas denied responsibility. Israel has long said it holds Hamas responsible for all violence from Gaza, controlled by the group since 2007.

It was the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.

At the time, Israel said it had targeted 100 Hamas positions in the besieged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians.

Israel has also waged three offensives on Gaza since December 2008, a year after Hamas assumed control of the Strip.

The last war of 2014 severely damaged Gaza's already weak infrastructure, prompting the UN to warn that the strip would be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

Tensions have been high for the past year along the Israel-Gaza frontier since Palestinians began popular protests near Israel's fence west of the Gaza Strip, protesting their right of return and demanding an end to the 12-year-siege.

The siege has devastated the local economy, severely restricting food imports and access to basic services. It has also stopped the flow of construction materials.

Since the start of the protests, dubbed the Great March of Return, nearly a year ago, the Israeli military has killed more than 200 Palestinians.

About 60 more have died in other incidents, including exchanges of fire across the fence. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian fire.

Meanwhile, Egypt, Qatar and the UN are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, but that effort has yet to bring about an agreement.

US-Israel ties 'unbreakable'

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu appeared alongside US President Donald Trump in a press conference at the White House shortly after the raids began.

Netanyahu said Israel was "responding forcefully" to what he called "wanton aggression".

"We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state," he said adding that he will cut his meeting short to return to Israel. 

Trump called the attack on Tel Aviv "despicable" and said that the United States "recognises Israel's absolute right to defend itself", describing the alliance between the US and Israel as "unbreakable".

During the press conference, Trump signed a proclamation formally recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a move that reversed decades of US policy. 

The recognition is expected to come as a boost to Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in Israel's presidential elections next month.

An Israeli Apache helicopter releases flares as it flies over the Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

Additional reporting by Maram Humaid in Gaza

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2019-03-25 19:08:00Z
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Israeli military strikes Hamas targets in Gaza - Aljazeera.com

The Israeli military has begun striking Hamas targets throughout Gazaiaccording to local residents and the Israeli military. 

Hamas radio reports bombing has destroyed the office of leader Ismail Haniya.

Residents in the northern part of the Gaza Strip reported hearing the sounds of explosions on Monday evening. Local media reported  that air strikes landed in an agricultural area east of Khan Younis in Gaza's south.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said several empty buildings associated with Hamas have been hit. 

"We've seen several plumes of smoke coming up from the Gaza skyline behind us and we've seen confirmation from the Israeli military that these strikes have begun.

Flames and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

"From our colleagues inside Gaza, we're hearing that so far, the targets seem to have been empty training camps associated with Hamas' military wing [...] also a sea base as well," Fawcett said. 

Later he said a building "right in the middle of densely populated Gaza city" had been "entirely destroyed".

Ambulances were on the scene, but there had four small warning explosions prior to the largest one that flattened the building that may have allowed people to get out of the area. 

Israel's military action came after a rocket, allegedly fired from the Gaza Strip, struck a home in central Israel on early Monday, wounding seven.

Israel has blamed Hamas for the attack. 

When asked whether the group was responsible for the rocket launch towards Israel on Monday Hamas spokesman Abdullatif al-Kanoo, told Al Jazeera:

"The Israelis continue to impose a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip and practice all kinds of aggression against Palestinians … Therefore, the Israeli occupation should bear the consequences of its actions against our people in Gaza and the West Bank and in Jerusalem as well.

Hamas will not leave our people undeterred … the resistance will strike back if needed".

He condemned the Israeli response. 

"The current Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip reflects its criminal nature. The Palestinian resistance will not allow the occupation to oppress its people."

Warnings to civilians 

Hamas' political chief Haniya called for unity to address Israeli attacks 

"The Palestinian cause is being attacked on various fronts - in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as inside Israeli jails.

"We must face this onslaught with a united national front, and in coordination with our Arab allies ... Our people and the resistance will not surrender if the occupation crosses red lines".

Ashraf al-Qudrah, spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry, said hospitals and medical points across the strip are ready and on high alert. 

The health ministry has also called on residents to take precautions as Israel begins to launch strikes across Gaza. 

Israel issued a similar warning about an hour before the raids began, telling Israeli residents to open bomb shelters in the expectation of potential rocket fire coming from inside Gaza in response.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "gravely concerned" by the recent developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip and urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

'Uninhabitable' 

The escalation comes 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv – in which Hamas denied responsibility. Israel has long said it holds Hamas responsible for all violence from Gaza, controlled by the group since 2007.

It was the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.

At the time, Israel said it had targeted 100 Hamas positions in the besieged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians.

Israel has also waged three offensives on Gaza since December 2008, a year after Hamas assumed control of the Strip.

The last war of 2014 severely damaged Gaza's already weak infrastructure, prompting the UN to warn that the strip would be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

Tensions have been high for the past year along the Israel-Gaza frontier since Palestinians began popular protests near Israel's fence west of the Gaza Strip, protesting their right of return and demanding an end to the 12-year-siege.

The siege has devastated the local economy, severely restricting food imports and access to basic services. It has also stopped the flow of construction materials.

Since the start of the protests, dubbed the Great March of Return, nearly a year ago, the Israeli military has killed more than 200 Palestinians.

About 60 more have died in other incidents, including exchanges of fire across the fence. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian fire.

Meanwhile, Egypt, Qatar and the UN are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, but that effort has yet to bring about an agreement.

US-Israel ties 'unbreakable'

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu appeared alongside US President Donald Trump in a press conference at the White House shortly after the raids began.

Netanyahu said Israel was "responding forcefully" to what he called "wanton aggression".

"We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state," he said adding that he will cut his meeting short to return to Israel. 

Trump called the attack on Tel Aviv "despicable" and said that the United States "recognises Israel's absolute right to defend itself", describing the alliance between the US and Israel as "unbreakable".

During the press conference, Trump signed a proclamation formally recognising Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a move that reversed decades of US policy. 

The recognition is expected to come as a boost to Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in Israel's presidential elections next month.

An Israeli Apache helicopter releases flares as it flies over the Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

Additional reporting by Maram Humaid in Gaza

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2019-03-25 18:53:00Z
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Golan Heights: Trump signs order recognising occupied area as Israeli - BBC News

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President Donald Trump has officially recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967, in a move hailed as "historic" by Israel's prime minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an election next month, was by Mr Trump's side as he signed the proclamation.

Syria said Mr Trump's decision was "a blatant attack on its sovereignty".

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, in a move that is not recognised internationally.

A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday he was "clear that the status of Golan has not changed".

• Why are the Golan Heights so important?
• What Trump's Golan Heights move really means

For decades, Washington took the same line as the UN, but last week Mr Trump announced his plan to overturn decades of US policy in a tweet.

In response, Syria has vowed to recover the area "through all available means".

But Mr Netanyahu told reporters gathered in Washington on Monday that Israel "shall never give it up".

"Your proclamation comes at a time when Golan is more important than ever for our security," he said, citing threats from Iranian forces in Syria.

It is, he added, "a two-fold act of historic justice".

"Israel won the Golan Heights in a just war of self-defence and the Jewish people's roots in the Golan go back thousands of years," Mr Netanyahu said.

However, there is little sign any other countries will be following in US footsteps, which a Syrian foreign ministry source described as a "humiliating blow to the international community", according to the state-run news agency Sana.

Russia - which has been providing military support to President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian conflict - warned the decree "could drive a new wave of tensions in the Middle East region".

Meanwhile, Turkey - which has been supporting the Syrian opposition - said it was "impossible" to accept the US decree, adding it planned to take action against it at the UN.

What are the Golan Heights?

The region is located about 60km (40 miles) south-west of the Syrian capital, Damascus, and covers about 1,200 sq km (400 sq miles).

Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Middle East war, and thwarted a Syrian attempt to retake the region during the 1973 war.

The two countries agreed a disengagement plan the following year that involved the creation of a 70km-long (44-mile) demilitarised zone patrolled by a United Nations observer force. But they remained technically in a state of war.

In 1981, Israel's parliament passed legislation applying Israeli "law, jurisdiction, and administration" to the Golan, in effect annexing the territory. But the international community did not recognise the move and maintained that the Golan was occupied Syrian territory. UN Security Council Resolution 497 declared the Israeli decision "null and void and without international legal effect".

Three years ago, when former President Barack Obama was in office, the US voted in favour of a Security Council statement expressing deep concern that Mr Netanyahu had declared Israel would never relinquish the Golan.

Syria has always insisted that it will not agree a peace deal with Israel unless it withdraws from the whole of the Golan. The last US-brokered direct peace talks broke down in 2000, while Turkey mediated in indirect talks in 2008.

There are more than 30 Israeli settlements in the Golan, which are home to an estimated 20,000 people. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. The settlers live alongside some 20,000 Syrians, most of them Druze Arabs, who did not flee when the Golan was captured.

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2019-03-25 17:29:01Z
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Sensing US weakness, Russia doubles down on Maduro's regime - Washington Examiner

As with its September 2015 military deployment to save Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, Russia has now deployed a military advance force to Venezuela.

It's the latest evidence that the Trump administration is being outmaneuvered in its support for interim president Juan Guaido.

Because while Russia says its deployment of around 100 soldiers is about fulfilling technical military contracts, the reality is different. As the BBC notes, the Russian flight that transported the soldiers to Venezuela did so after stopping off in Syria. That stop off strongly suggests Russian special forces or intelligence specialists were picked up in Syria. It's also notable that the Russians removed a lot of heavy equipment from the aircraft.

All of this leads to a conclusion that Russia intends for these forces to remain in Venezuela for the foreseeable future. And that suggests Russia's real intent here is to send a warning to Washington that Russian interests and lives are now directly tied Maduro's survival. The hope is that this will deter the U.S. from escalating against Maduro's regime.

It's a clever gambit that reeks of Vladimir Putin's realist scheming.

The Russian leader appears to have sensed that the Trump administration lacks the resolve to do what is necessary to bring down Maduro's regime. Even as Venezuelans continue to suffer more severely, the momentum has shifted away from Guaido and towards Russia's ally, Maduro.

The Trump administration has got to wake up here. Juan Guaido is the legitimate constitutional leader of Venezuela and U.S. credibility is now staked on his accession to power. Russia cannot be allowed to so obviously contest U.S. influence in Latin America.

Trump should up the ante by cutting off Maduro's support line from Cuba and, if necessary, by tabling new sanctions against Russia at the United Nations.

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2019-03-25 17:09:00Z
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Trump's Golan move boosts Netanyahu but long-term risks for Israel - Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights was manna from heaven for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks before an election.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman visit the border line between Israel and Syria at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 11, 2019 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

For many Arabs, it crushed any hope that there will one day be a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians and increased doubts that Washington is an impartial arbiter.

But allies and enemies can agree on one thing: Trump’s statement last Thursday was a turning point in U.S. policy over territory Israel captured from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed in 1981, in a move the U.N. Security Council declared unlawful.

“I am confident that the Lord is at work here,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Israel when Trump made his announcement on Twitter, told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview.

Netanyahu, who has thanked Trump for the announcement, is seeking re-election on April 9 but faces a tough battle and possible indictment in three corruption cases in which he denies wrongdoing.

He was due to meet Trump on Monday on a trip highlighting what Netanyahu calls the strongest ever bond between an Israeli leader and a U.S. president, though Trump has said his decision on the Golan Heights was not connected with the election.

But Trump’s decision, following U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017, could tempt other powers to annex land, undermine the roll-out of a U.S. Middle East peace plan and tilt Israel back into conflict with its Arab neighbors, Middle East analysts say.

“Donald Trump has made sure that Israel will be in a perpetual state of war with its Arab neighbors for many decades to come,” said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and author of the book Making the Arab World.

“What Trump has done is to hammer a deadly nail in the coffin of the peace process and Arab-Israeli reconciliation. This is a fundamental turning point. There is nothing left to discuss anymore.”

RESHAPING THE MIDDLE EAST

Trump’s move is, according to many analysts, partly intended to boost his own chances of re-election in 2020, by targeting the vast pool of U.S. evangelical Christians. Many of them voted for his in 2016 and they are championed in his administration by Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence and others.

The announcement on the Golan Heights was the latest in a flurry of decisions that are widely seen as intended to redraw the contours of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Most have ticked the wish-list of Israel’s right-wing government and met longstanding demands of its U.S. supporters, including U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital. The Arab east of the city was occupied by Israel and then annexed after 1967 in a move that is legally repudiated internationally.

White House officials say the decisions on Jerusalem and the Golan Heights acknowledge the reality on the ground, which they say must be the basis for legitimate peace negotiations.

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said it was inconceivable Israel “would allow the Golan to be controlled by the state of Syria or by any of the rogue actors operating in the areas, including Iran.”

But with Sunni Arab leaders dealing with crises in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Sudan and Qatar, and their standoff with non-Arab Shi’ite Iran, they are less focused on Israel.

ARABS IN DISARRAY

Trump’s aides have indicated privately that they believe his moves on Jerusalem have provoked a less severe reaction in the Arab world than experts had predicted, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

In particular, they did not appear to have blocked behind-the-scenes security contacts developed in recent years between Israel and the United States’ Gulf allies over their common enemy Iran, the person said.

Aides’ advice to Trump on recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights was that Washington could again weather the storm, the same person said.

Support for the move in the Trump administration had gained momentum over the past year as Israel increasingly expressed concern about Iranian forces and their proxies taking up positions in southwestern Syria, the official said.

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser and one of the administration’s leading Iran hawks, was an important proponent of the policy shift, the official said.

But skeptics say the move will also give Iran and its local ally Hezbollah what they would see as justification for new attacks on Israel and hamstring anti-Iranian Arab leaders if they are seen to accept the U.S. move.

The Trump administration has identified Iran as its main target in the Middle East, and withdrew from the deal signed by Tehran, the United States and other world powers in 2015 on curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

MORE TO COME

But after the moves on Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, Iran and Hezbollah may feel better able to present themselves as the only steadfast allies of the Palestinian cause.

They could also play into the hands of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by helping him in his portrayals of Israel and the United States as enemies.

“This will give further power to the Iran axis of resistance between Iran-Hezbollah-Assad against Israel and the U.S.,” said Galip Dalay, visiting fellow at Oxford University and a fellow at Brookings Doha. “This axis has just been given a very strong symbolic victory and this will give them the high ground.”

He said Arab leaders could not publicly support Trump’s decisions on Jerusalem and the Golan Heights because it would threaten their popularity, in some cases already low.

“From the Arab standpoint, this makes them more hesitant to be supportive because the political space they need to maneuver has been eroded,” said Dennis Ross, a veteran Middle East negotiator. “Each move by this administration has put Arab states on the defensive.”

Ross also suggested that U.S. recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights could embolden the Israeli right-wing to step up its push for annexing settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

“I worry that the right in Israel can say ‘they recognized this. It will be a matter of time before we can annex all or part of the West Bank’,” he said. “That would be the end of the two-state solution.”

Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Editing by Timothy Heritage

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2019-03-25 14:30:00Z
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Trump formally recognises Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights - Aljazeera.com

US President Donald Trump on Monday formally recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Israel-occupied Golan Heights, reversing decades of US policy. 

The announcement came as Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House in a trip the Israeli prime minister said he was cutting short after an early morning rocket, allegedly fired from the besieged Gaza Strip, struck a home in central Israel, wounding seven people.

Israel began striking Hamas targets in Gaza later on Monday, the Israeli military said. Hamas had earlier denied its movement was behind the overnight rocket.  

Monday's decree formalised Trump's statement last week, saying it was time for the United States "to fully recognise" Israeli sovereignty over the Golan. The move appeared to give Netanyahu a boost ahead of the closely contested April 9 Israeli elections.

"This was a long time in the making," Trump said alongside Netanyahu in the White House. 

"Today, aggressive action by Iran and terrorist groups in southern Syria, including Hezbollah, continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel - very violent attacks," Trump said. "This should have been done numerous presidents ago." 

'Blatant attack'

Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and then effectively annexed it in 1981, a move that was never recognised by the international community.

Syria's foreign ministry called the US decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan a "blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria, according to a statement carried by state news agency SANA. 

"The liberation of the Golan by all available means and its return to the Syrian motherland is an inalienable right," the statement added. "The decision ... makes the United States the main enemy of the Arabs."

Earlier this month, a senior US administration official told reporters in Washington that there was "no change in [US] outlook or our policy vis-a-vis these territories and the need for a negotiated settlement there". 

The official was responding to questions about why the US changed its description of the Golan Heights in its latest annual human rights report in which the area was referred to as "Israeli-controlled", not "Israeli-occupied" as it was previously stated. 

Trump, who has shown robust support for his country's close ally Israel, recognised Jerusalem as the country's capital in 2017, defying international consensus and angering Palestinian leaders, who view Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-03-25 16:46:00Z
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