Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Claudio Cordone, Deputy Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, on the situation in the Middle East.
Briefing the Council on his latest visit to the country, the Deputy Special Envoy for Syria, Claudio Cordone, said, “I have seen further progress in institutional development, while Syrians continue to grapple with dire economic conditions and the country confronts internal and external security challenges.”
Cordone said he had the opportunity “to hear from local officials and civil society in different parts of the country a strong commitment to build a Syria where everyone feels they belong, with representative institutions, a culture of accountability for both past and present, and tangible improvements in people’s lives with sustained international support.”
He told the Council he had “also discussed with the Syrian authorities’ preparations for the holding of future parliamentary and presidential elections, and possibly other elections, in line with a new constitution.”
The Special Envoy stressed that “the heavy lifting needed for the implementation of these electoral plans within the remaining three-and-a-half years of the transition must not be underestimated.”
He said, “Israeli presence and military activity in southern Syria has continued in violation of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, with near-daily incursions, temporary checkpoints, searches of homes and artillery fire, particularly in Quneitra and western Daraa.”
Cordone noted that “two Syrians who were taken to Israel and held there were returned home, but others remain in Israeli custody” and on 9 September, “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Israeli forces on Jabal al-Sheikh / Mount Hermon, reiterating that Israel would not permit hostile forces to establish themselves along its border.”