Syria vows to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights

The Syrian warning was given to the head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) General Kristin Lund.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
AN IRON DOME antimissile system is installed near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Golan Heights (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
AN IRON DOME antimissile system is installed near the Israeli side of the border with Syria in the Golan Heights
(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
Syria vowed to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights, World Israel News reported on Thursday.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad submitted an official warning to the head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) Kristin Lund, in what seemed to be an attempt to prevent official US recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan. 
 
Blue and White party politicians Gabi Ashkenazi, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Moshe Ya'alon visited the Golan Heights on Monday and vowed never to give it up.
 
"We will increase the numbers of residents in the Golan, sending a resounding message to all - we will never relinquish the Golan Heights," Gantz said. 
 
"We will enlist the support of the US and the international community to promote Israel's interests on our northern border," he added. 
 
"We have a historical right to it and it is a strategic asset," Lapid said, adding that "we will never give up the Golan Heights. It is ours and it will stay ours."