The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry on Saturday demanded Syria uphold its obligation to secure the Emirati mission in Damascus after footage showed pro-Palestinian protesters scaling the embassy walls.

Syria has seen regular anti-UAE demonstrations demanding the release of former Syrian rebel leader Essam al-Buwaydhani, who was arrested in Dubai last April. The protests have turned more markedly anti-Israel after the Knesset last week passed a law mandating the death penalty for West Bank Palestinians convicted of lethal terrorist acts.

In a statement Saturday, the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, condemned what it described as “riots, acts of vandalism and assaults” outside its embassy and the residence of its head of mission, and called on Syria to investigate and put perpetrators to account.

A Reuters reporter saw dozens of protesters gathering outside the UAE’s embassy in Damascus at midday on Friday, including some chanting “the Zionist embassy.”

Footage showed protesters waving Syrian and jihadi flags, including those of al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda and forerunner of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose leader Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 after a nearly 14-year........

© The Times of Israel