The Israeli occupation's seizure of the buffer zone in Syria's Golan Heights constitutes a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria, a UN spokesman said.The UN peacekeeping force deployed in the Golan Heights, known as UNDOF, ‘informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions would constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement,’ said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.Dujarric said that the Israeli forces that entered the zone were still present in at least three locations.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday he had ordered the army to ‘seize’ the demilitarized zone in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights.Most of the Golan Heights plateau has been occupied since 1967 by Israel, which later annexed it in a move not recognized by most of the international community.In 1974 a buffer zone was established to separate the Israeli-held and Syrian territories, with UN peacekeepers stationed there.Amid the downfall of the Assad regime, Israel announced a troop deployment to the Golan Heights citing ‘the possible entry of armed individuals into the buffer zone.’Israeli troops ‘have entered the area of separation and have been moving within that area where they remain in at least three locations throughout the area of separation,’ Dujarric said.’There should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation. And Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement, and preserve stability in the Golan,’ he stressed.
