Israel Releases 2 Syrian Shepherds in Prisoner Trade

The prisoner trade with Syria has taken a new twist and looks like it might be resolved soon.

Through Russian mediation, Israel had agreed to free two Hezbollah terrorists to Syria in exchange for an Israeli civilian woman who wandered into enter Syria. Except that deal hit a snag when the two terrorists refused to go to Syria and said they would only accept going back to their village on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.

According to the IDF, and according to the instructions of the Israeli political echelon, the IDF instead released two Syrian shepherds who had crossed over into Israel, ostensibly on a spying operation. The two Syrians were handed over to the Red Cross via the Quneitra crossing on Thursday.

There is no update yet when the Israeli woman from Kiryat Sefer will be returned to Israel.