UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Damascus on Saturday for a multi-day visit of solidarity, the first by a sitting UN chief since his predecessor Ban Ki-moon visited in 2009 — two years before the outbreak of Syria's devastating civil war. Meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace, Guterres pledged UN support for Syria's reconstruction and political transition, describing the moment as pivotal for a country still emerging from nearly 14 years of conflict that killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more.
"No country emerges from a very severe conflict and rebuilds itself on its own," Guterres said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. "We must help Syria in its determination and resolve to do so." He offered UN assistance with Syria's political transition, including efforts toward transitional justice, drafting a permanent constitution, and holding free and fair elections. Guterres also described Syria as "the pillar of stability of the Middle East" — a pointed remark given the turbulence roiling the wider region. Shaibani, for his part, called the visit "a clear declaration of Syria's shift to the position of an active partner in the United Nations."
A sharp point of tension during the visit concerned the Golan Heights — a strategic plateau that Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war and has occupied since — and the UN-patrolled buffer zone established under a 1974 disengagement agreement. After Assad's ouster in December 2024, Israeli troops moved into that buffer zone and carried out repeated strikes and incursions deeper into Syrian territory, with Israeli officials stating their intention to maintain a "security zone" in southern Syria. Guterres was unequivocal: "Violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease. What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is totally unacceptable." He reminded the international community that "the Golan Heights are Syrian territory." Shaibani demanded an "immediate and unconditional Israeli withdrawal" to the pre-2024 line.
Guterres's visit comes at a significant moment for Syria's new authorities. Al-Sharaa, who led the rebel alliance that toppled Assad in a swift offensive in December 2024, has worked to rebuild Syria's international standing after decades of isolation under the Assad family. The United States has lifted most sanctions and signalled it intends to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, while European sanctions have also been eased — though the impact on ordinary Syrians remains limited. According to UN figures, some 1.9 million internally displaced people and 1.7 million refugees have returned since Assad fell, yet around 5.5 million remain displaced inside the country, six million are abroad, and an estimated 15.6 million people require humanitarian assistance.
Beyond his meeting with al-Sharaa, Guterres toured the old quarter of Damascus and the historic Umayyad Mosque, and is scheduled to meet civil society representatives and groups working on women's issues. He is also expected to visit the UN peacekeeping force stationed in the Golan buffer zone and to address Syria's parliament on Monday. The visit follows French President Emmanuel Macron's trip to Damascus weeks earlier — overshadowed by two bomb explosions near the hotel where he stayed — underscoring both the progress Syria has made in re-engaging the world and the fragility of its path forward.