Syrian mission to UN to continue work after regime exit, calls for Israel's withdrawal

The permanent representative for Syria to the United Nations has been directed to continue with the mission's work in New York to "maintain state institutions," Syria's representative to the UN Koussay Aldahhak said following a UN Security Council meeting on Monday.

Aldahak called on the United Nations and the Security council to end attacks on the country he attributes to Israel.

Israeli troops entered the buffer zone between Israel and Syria on Sunday following directives from Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi.

“We’re with the Syrian people. We’ll keep defending and working for the Syrian people. So we’ll continue our work until further notice,” Aldahak said.

Syria's collapse

In less than two weeks, a decades-long regime decimated to nothing, with ex-President Bashar al-Assad resigning and fleeing to Russia for asylum with his family, the Kremlin confirmed, creating a new reality for Syrians.

“Syrians are looking forward to establishing a state of freedom, equality, rule of law, democracy, and we’ll join efforts to rebuild our country, to rebuild what was destroyed, and to rebuild the future,” Aldahhak said. He entered his role as the permanent representative of Assad’s government to the UN in December 2023.

The Syrian government has come to a “to a complete and abrupt halt” after a number of state workers did not return to their jobs, AP reported, though Syria's prime minister said on Monday that most cabinet members had returned to their posts after rebels overthrew Assad's regime.

As a result, an influx of refugees have bled over from Syria into neighboring and nearby countries. UNHCR figures show that 3.1 million fled to Syria, as well as 774,000 into war-torn Lebanon, already contributing to a constant refugee flow, particularly since the start of Israel's ground operation in Lebanon against Hezbollah on September 30, 2024.

Germany and Jordan took between 286-628,000 refugees, with Iraq taking 286,000 and Egypt taking 156,500. Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Greece took less than 100,000 Syrian refugees in recent days. Others have began returning to Syria from nearby, hoping for change.

Arab media outlets have reported that Israel has increased strikes in Syria, though the IDF has not formally taken responsibility for involvement in said strikes. The IDF said on Monday that suspected chemical weapon sites and long-range rocket sites were destroyed. The military has also seized the buffer zone successfully leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

Meanwhile, Israel has increased its strikes on Syria. On Monday, it said it carried out airstrikes on suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets. Israel has also seized a buffer zone inside Syria after Syrian troops withdrew.

While noting that the Syrian mission to the UN followed instructions from the current leadership in Syria, he requested that the UN secretary-general and the UNSC would "shoulder their responsibility in maintaining international peace and security and (put) an end to the Israeli attacks on Syria.”

He also requested that the UNSC not allow Israel “to benefit from this transition that the Syrians are doing now in their country for their occupation agenda, to compel Israel to respect international law, international Security Council resolutions and the GA (General Assembly) resolutions on ending the Israeli occupation of Syrian territories.”

The UN has called Israel's role in taking over the buffer zone a violation of a 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria.