Syria has urged the UN to prevent Israel from exploiting natural resources in the occupied territories including the Syrian Golan Heights.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tel Aviv is still stealing water from the occupied Golan Heights, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Moallem went on to say that diverting water resources to the Israeli settlements inflicts an economical and environmental disaster on Syrian citizens of Golan Heights.

He argued that the Israeli action is a violation of the Fourth 1949 Geneva Convention and the UN Security Council Resolution 465 which demands occupation authority to protect land, people, private and public property and water resources.

During the 1967 conflict, Israel occupied the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the Golan Heights in Syria, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and the Gaza Strip.

The Syrian government has repeatedly called on Israel to completely withdraw from the Golan Heights.

Turkey mediated talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv in May 2008. The mediated talks broke down after Israel launched a devastating assault on the Gaza Strip that claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

(Press TV)