A Qatari delegation, led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman al Thani, arrived in Damascus on Thursday.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, traveled to Damascus on Thursday, where he called on Israeli forces to withdraw from the Occupied Golan Heights.
“The Israeli occupation’s seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless … act, and it must immediately withdraw,” Sheikh Mohammed said during a press conference with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
During the trip, Sheikh Mohammed also pledged to support the new administration and rebuilding of Syria’s infrastructure, which has suffered under nearly 14 years of civil war under Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship.
“We will provide the necessary technical support to make the infrastructure operational again and provide support to the electricity sector,” the Qatari prime minister said.
“[Qatar] extends its hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships.”
During the press briefing, Al-Sharaa blamed Israel’s territorial advance to “the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah”.
“After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they [Iran and Hezbollah] have no presence at all,” Al-Sharaa said. “There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone.”
“Qatar no doubt has a big role to play,” he went on to say. “They will play an active role in continuing to exercise pressure together with Western and European nations and the United States of America.”
Syria has suffered under years of strict sanctions, namely from the U.S.
Al-Sharaa called upon the lifting of these sanctions, emphasising the “negative impact on the support provided to Syria and the Syrian people”.
The Thursday visit marked the Qatari prime minister’s first visit to Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December.
Sheikh Mohammed also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and head of Syria’s intelligence service, Anas Khattab.
Translation: The head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and the head of the intelligence service, Anas Khattab, receive a high-level Qatari delegation headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.
The Qatari foreign minister also underscored the importance of respecting Syria’s sovereignty and international law.
After Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham seized control of key government cities in December, Syria declared an end to Bashar al-Assad’s iron-fisted rule. In response, Israel deployed tanks and military units to the buffer zone along the Golan Heights.
The Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, was formally annexed by Israel in 1981, a move widely condemned as a violation of international law.