in thenationalnews.com: Gulf countries on Thursday issued a firm call for Israel to withdraw from the Syrian lands it recently occupied after taking advantage of a security vacuum following the collapse of the former regime. The call was issued at the start of an extraordinary meeting for the ministers of foreign affairs of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) in Kuwait to discuss recent developments in Syria and Lebanon. “Israels attacks on Syria and occupation of the buffer zone are a flagrant violation of international laws and Security Council resolutions,” the Secretary General of the Gulf Co-operation Council Jasem Al Budaiwi said in his opening speech. Since the collapse of president Bashar Al Assad’s regime this month, Israel has bombed hundreds of weapons sites, airbases and naval assets in Syria and sent troops into a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli officials have called the incursion a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have not indicated when the troops will be withdrawn.
