Israel returned two shepherds who crossed into Israeli territory back to Syria, a development that an Israeli official said was part of an impending prisoner swap Syria had reported the previous day.
Syria's official news agency SANA said Wednesday that with the help of Russian mediation, Syria has negotiated the release of two Syrians held by Israel in exchange for an Israeli woman who entered Syria by mistake.
The two were reported to be Nihal al-Makt, who had been under house arrest in her village on the Golan Heights, and Ziyab Qahmouz, detained in 2016 and serving 14 years.
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Al-Makt, SANA said, was serving a three-year suspended sentence in addition to reporting daily for a year to Israeli authorities. She said those restrictions were lifted on Wednesday and speaking to Syrian Al-Ikhbariya TV through Skype, she said she was now free.
Qahmouz reportedly refused to leave Israeli custody as he wanted to go back to his village in the Golan and not be deported to Syria. According to the Israeli side, al-Makt also refused to be deported to Syria.
In return for the two, Syria was to release from custody a woman identified by foreign media as a 25-year-old originally from the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Modiin Ilit.
The two shepherds were not identified. But the army said they had been apprehended in the Golan Heights in recent weeks after crossing in from Syria and that their release was ordered by the government.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media, said the release of the shepherds was part of the deal with Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined comment.
There was no immediate comment from Syria.
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