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Israel in quiet talks with Syria on prisoner swap

Israel is reportedly negotiating with Syria on the release of a woman who mistakenly crossed the border in exchange for the release of two Golan residents imprisoned in Israel.
This picture taken from the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on February 15, 2021, shows the border fence with the Syrian governorate of Quneitra (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel confirmed today it was holding indirect negotiations over a possible prisoner swap with Syria. The Russian-mediated talks reportedly concern the release of a young Israeli woman currently in Syrian detention in exchange for the release of two prisoners from the Golan Heights held in Israeli jails.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that an unnamed Israeli woman had crossed the border and entered the Quneitra area of Syria by mistake and was arrested by the Syrian authorities. SANA also said that "sons of the occupied Syrian Golan" will be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for the Israeli. The agency named the two prisoners as Nahal al-Makat and Diab Kahamuz.

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