Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa strongly criticized Israel's military presence in southern Syria and said the Golan Heights remains an inseparable part of Syrian territory.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, al-Sharaa said Israel had carried out more than 500 air and artillery strikes in Syria since he took power nearly two years ago.

He also said Israeli forces had made about 1,200 ground incursions and detained nearly 300 people during the period.

Al-Sharaa condemned Israel's control of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981.

In 2019, then-US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory, reversing decades of US policy. The United Nations and most of the international community continue to regard the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian territory and do not recognize Israel's annexation.

“No attempts at imposing a fait accompli can undermine the legitimacy of our state, the sovereignty of our law, or the force of international law,” al-Sharaa said. “The Golan will remain Syrian land.”

Israel has maintained control over part of southern Syria since the fall of Bashar Assad, describing the move as a defensive measure to prevent possible attacks on Israeli territory.

Al-Sharaa said Syria remains committed to a 1974 agreement that created a demilitarized buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces, with UN peacekeepers deployed to help maintain calm in the area.

He called on Israel to withdraw its forces to the positions held on Dec. 8, 2024, when insurgents led by al-Sharaa ousted longtime Syrian leader Bashar Assad and Israel began deploying forces into the area.

On Tuesday, al-Sharaa joked during an Atlantic Council event that he had asked US President Donald Trump why he did not give Israel New Jersey instead of the Golan Heights.