UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Damascus this week for the first time since taking office and meet President Ahmad Al Shara, as Syria seeks international support to recover from the civil war and deal with Israeli incursions in the south.
The UN maintained links with the former Assad regime and adhered to its conditions on providing aid and projects, despite mass transgressions in the areas it controlled during the 2011 to 2024 civil war, as well as the use of chemical weapons in rebel areas.
However, the UN Security Council in February lifted sanctions on Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the former Al Qaeda affiliate whose cadres now are in control of Syria. The decision came after a US diplomatic drive and moves by Mr Al Shara to open channels with countries that supported the former regime, particularly Russia.
A Syrian official told The National that Mr Guterres will be in Damascus by the weekend and that Mr Al Shara will be raising two main issues. One is the acceleration of UN recovery projects. The second is a more active role for the UN Disengagement Observer Force (Undof), which operates on the edge of the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel occupied more territory in the area after the end of Assad rule and its troops conduct regular incursions into Syrian territory.
“The UN projects provide hard currency Syria is in dire need of,” said the official. They added that Syria's new authorities have told UN agencies they can continue to operate as long as they stop dealing with and hiring associates of the former regime.
Two thirds of Syria’s 23 million population need humanitarian help, while 5.5 million remain internally displaced, UN data shows. Recovery “will depend on sustained funding and safe conditions”, according to the organisation.
On the Golan issue, Syria is seeking to lift Israeli restrictions on the work of Undof and a planned visit by Mr Guterres will highlight the importance of the force, the official said.
US efforts to forge a peace deal between Syria and Israel appear to have faltered in recent months, with Damascus adopting a tougher stance towards Israel and its incursions. A UN statement confirmed Mr Guterres will be visiting the peacekeeping troops.
In 1973, Syria launched a war to regain the Golan Heights. The following year, Henry Kissinger, then US secretary of state, oversaw a deal under which a UN-mandated buffer zone was established between the two sides, keeping Israel in control of the Golan and restricting the type of forces and weapons that Syria could deploy in the area.
Shortly after the downfall of Bashar Al Assad in December 2024, Israel advanced beyond the 1974 line and established a de facto security zone.
The zone spans parts of Deraa, Rural Damascus and Quneitra governorates. The Syrian side of the Yarmouk River basin is situated in Deraa governorate.
