The Israeli woman freed by Syria in a prisoner swap arrives home

After two weeks in Syrian detention, a young Israeli woman from Modiin Ilit arrived home from Moscow on Friday morning. She was freed with Russian intervention in exchange for two Syrian shepherds captured by the IDF. A doctor established she was in good health. The unidentified woman faces interrogation by the Shin Bet. Two Israeli officials flew to Moscow to escort her home on a private plane.

PM Binyamin Netanyahu thanked President Vladimir Putin for his assistance in arranging the swap. The PMO said the two shepherds had already been sent across to Syria via the Red Cross as a gesture of goodwill. The deal was held up by the refusal of the two Syrians demanded by Damascus to go.  Diab Qahamuz chose to serve out his 14-year sentence for a terrorist plot with Hizballah, Nihal Al-Maqt from Maqdal Shams had her house arrest for incitement curtailed. The Israeli woman is believed, according to some news sources, to have crossed the border through an unfenced area near Mount Hermon after passing through a valley from the Golan town of Majdal Shams.