JERUSALEM – Israel and Syria, long bitter enemies, are engaged in Russian-mediated talks for a prisoner exchange after an Israeli woman recently crossed the border and was detained by Syrian authorities, Syrian state media and Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
The unusual episode was overseen even when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday night to discuss what is being described as a sensitive humanitarian issue related to Syria.
The drama has since begun to unfold amid snippets of information and rumors. On Wednesday, SANA, the Syrian news agency, report that Syria was liberating two of its citizens from Israeli custody, through Russian mediation, in exchange for the Israeli woman, who she said had ‘accidentally’ entered Syrian territory in the Golan Heights region. The details of the woman’s identity were unclear.
Few details have been released, but Mr. Netanyahu, who was asked about the episode in an interview with Israel’s army radio later on Wednesday, said: “We are working to save a life.”
He said he would not comment on the news reports, but added, referring to Russia’s leader: “I can only tell you that I am using my personal ties with President Putin to resolve this issue, and that we in the midst of sensitive situations are contacts, which can not be discussed. ”
The border between the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan Heights and Syria has been tense in recent years and is heavily patrolled and guarded by Israeli forces. Israel conquered the Golan Heights in Syria during the 1967 war and later annexed the area effectively. Although it would be difficult to slide across the border or cross by accident, some parts are separated by a less prohibited fence than others.
The Syrian report names two detainees whose freedom Syria has sought, Diab Qahmuz and Nihal Al-Maqt, and identifies them as residents of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. About 20,000 Syrian Druze Arabs live in villages in the Israeli territory. Many still identify as Syrians and have refused to take Israeli citizenship.
According to Israeli media reports, Mr. Qahmuz of Ghajar, a disputed town on a volatile point of Israel, Lebanon and Syria. He was convicted in 2018 and received a 14-year sentence for smuggling explosives to Israel from Lebanon on behalf of Hezbollah and for exploring possible sites for a bomb attack.
According to media reports, Maqt, a resident of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel, was convicted on a charge of incitement and was released from house arrest on Wednesday.
Mr. Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, Israel’s defense minister, have been in contact with Russian officials in recent days. According to Mr. Netanyahu’s national security adviser and his chief negotiator for the return of Israelites into hostile hands traveled to Moscow for talks.
Russia has in the past served as an intermediary for Israel and the Syrian government. In a gesture of goodwill in 2016, President Vladimir V. Putin agreed to return to Israel a tank seized during a 1982 catastrophic battle with Syrian forces in southern Lebanon, an episode that killed three Israelis. left soldiers in action and pursued Israel for decades.
In 2019, Moscow mediates the return of the remains of Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel, an Israeli tank driver who died in that battle.