Syria: Briefing
Tomorrow morning (10 April), the Security Council will hold an open briefing on Syria. Algeria and Somalia requested the meeting after the Permanent Mission of Syria to the UN sent a 7 April letter to the Council (S/2025/216) concerning recent Israeli attacks on Syrian territory. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari are expected to brief.
The 7 April letter described Israeli attacks on Syrian territory as a “serious threat” to international peace and security and a violation of international law, the UN Charter, relevant UN resolutions, and the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria. (This agreement ended the Yom Kippur War and established in the Golan an area of separation, which is a UN-monitored buffer zone, and an area of limitation, where Israeli and Syrian troops and equipment are restricted.) In the letter, Syria condemned what it called Israeli “aggression” on its territory and accused Israel of aiming to undermine the country’s stability and security, “prolong the suffering of its people”, and establish “a new occupation reality” on Syrian territory. It also called on the Council to “compel” Israel to cease its attacks on Syrian territory, withdraw its forces, and fully comply with the Disengagement of Forces Agreement.
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military assets and expanded control over the Golan. Syria’s letter follows the most recent series of Israeli airstrikes, which took place on 2 and 3 April and reportedly hit Syrian airbases and military sites—including the Hama and Tiyas (T4) airbases—as well as military infrastructure in Damascus. Syria’s foreign ministry said that the strikes resulted in the “near-total destruction” of the Hama airbase and injured “dozens” of civilians and military personnel. Israel also shelled the southern province of Daraa—killing nine civilians, according to Syrian state media—and launched a ground incursion into the province. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly said that their incursion was a response to fire from gunmen on Israeli troops operating in the southern Syrian town of Tasil overnight while they were “seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure”.
Meanwhile, the strikes on the T4 airbase in the Homs province followed reports that Türkiye is planning to establish control of the base and deploy air defence systems there, in line with an agreement currently under discussion between the authorities in Damascus and Ankara that would commit Türkiye to supporting Syrian defence and counterterrorism capabilities. Senior Israeli officials have reportedly stated that they are not seeking a conflict with Türkiye but do not want the country to establish itself on Israel’s borders and will seek to prevent it from assuming responsibility for Syrian military bases. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has also stressed that his country does not seek conflict with Israel, while noting the destabilising impact of the country’s strikes in Syria. Today (9 April), Hakan announced that Israel and Türkiye would hold technical talks on establishing a deconfliction mechanism in Syria.
In a 3 April statement, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen condemned the “repeated and intensifying military escalations by Israel in Syria, including airstrikes that have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties”. He emphasised that such actions undermine efforts to build a peaceful Syria at a sensitive time. Pedersen called on Israel to respect Syria’s sovereignty and cease the attacks—noting that they could amount to “serious violations” of international law—and its “unilateral actions” on the ground.
Tomorrow, the briefers and some Council members are expected to echo Pedersen’s statement and reaffirm their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity. Some may urge external actors to refrain from any actions that may further destabilise Syria, in line with the Council’s 14 March presidential statement. In this regard, several members are expected to call on Israel to withdraw its forces immediately and unconditionally from the area of separation in the Golan and to fully respect the Disengagement of Forces Agreement. On the other hand, the US may reiterate its concern—recently conveyed at the latest Council meeting on Syria held on 25 March—that Syria’s caretaker authorities have not fully renounced their extremist roots and that additional efforts are necessary to prohibit “terrorists from using Syria as a platform”.
Council members are also likely to reiterate their concerns about the presence of foreign terrorist fighters in Syria. This issue received increased attention following events in early March during which widespread sectarian and retaliatory violence was perpetrated against Syria’s Alawite minority in the country’s coastal region, much of which was reportedly committed by foreign fighters nominally affiliated with the caretaker authorities. Tomorrow, Council members may urge Syria’s caretaker authorities to take decisive measures to address the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters, in line with the Council’s 14 March presidential statement. Relatedly, some speakers may reiterate their call on the caretaker authorities to address the issue of foreign fighters in their senior ranks, a point that Pedersen and several Council members—including China, France, Russia, and the US—made at the 25 March meeting.
Members are also likely to reiterate the presidential statement’s demand that the independent committee established by the Syrian caretaker authorities to investigate the coastal violence conduct swift, transparent, and comprehensive investigations into the matter to ensure accountability for perpetrators. Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the establishment of the committee on 9 March and gave it 30 days to submit its findings. In a 25 March press conference, however, the committee’s spokesperson said that that “there is difficulty in completing our task within 30 days, and we may request an extension”.
Tomorrow’s Council meeting will be the first since Sharaa’s 30 March announcement of the formation of a new transitional government which will lead Syria through a five-year transitional period resulting in elections. The cabinet comprises 23 ministers, including four from Alawite, Christian, Druze, and Kurdish backgrounds. Only one cabinet member—the minister of social affairs and labour—is a woman. Several Arab and European countries welcomed the announcement, but it was rejected by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which said that the composition of the government failed to be inclusive of Syria’s minorities since it lacked representation from the AANES.
Tomorrow, Council members may welcome the formation of the interim government as a positive step forward in the country’s political transition. Some members, however, may highlight the need for greater inclusivity in the process, possibly expressing concerns that the ethnic composition of the government does not sufficiently represent the diversity of Syria’s population and may fail to overcome sectarian divisions. Council members are likely to reiterate their calls for an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process, which safeguards the rights of minorities and meets the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians, in line with the key principles of resolution 2254 of 18 December 2015, which focused on a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Some members may also urge the interim government to allow the UN to play a role in supporting and facilitating the political transition, a point emphasised in the 14 March presidential statement. (For more information, see the brief on Syria in our April 2025 Monthly Forecast.)
