?A UN truck heads towards the Quneitra Crossing, the only land crossing between Syria's Quneitra and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on March 26, 2019. The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of the Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory, the state news agency SANA reported. (Xinhua/Wang Jian)
DAMASCUS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of the Syrian Golan Heights as Israeli territory, the state news agency SANA reported.
The ministry said in a statement that Trump's move is a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Syria," adding that the Syrian government completely rejects the decision and the Golan Heights will always remain a Syrian territory.
"Trump does not have the legal right to legitimize the occupation of others' land by force," the ministry said.
Earlier in the day, Trump recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in a war in 1967 and annexed it in the 1980s, but the international community has never recognized the move.
Recognizing the Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has been a recent demand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which comes months after the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
