Syria asks UN to condemn US accepting Israel’s Golan control

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria’s Foreign Ministry is calling on the U.N. human rights commissioner to denounce President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

The ministry’s statement Wednesday said Trump’s decision this week is a “blatant aggression” against Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as a violation of the U.N. charter and international law.

It called on U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to publicly say Trump’s decision endangers the rights of Syrians living in the occupied Golan.

Thousands of Syrians have held rallies in cities controlled by President Bashar Assad’s government against Trump’s announcement. In the coastal city Tartus, hundreds gathered Wednesday outside the governor’s office in protest.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981.