Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, boosting expectations for another exchange deal sponsored by Russian President Vladimir Putin between Tel Aviv and Damascus.
The new deal will likely include freeing Israelis who were arrested in Syria’s southwestern Quneitra governorate and releasing information about the remains of Israeli soldiers in the war-torn Levantine country.
Tel Aviv, for its part, would release Syrians detained in its prisons.
It is worth noting that Moscow had sponsored a similar agreement between the two countries in 2019.
Russian president’s special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, speaking in Sochi on Wednesday at the 15th Astana format talks, confirmed that Moscow and Tel Aviv are holding calls for de-escalating tensions.
Lavrentiev, however, warned that Damascus may retaliate against Israel’s persistent strikes in Syria.
What happened?
Details of the Israeli cabinet’s unscheduled meeting were banned from publication at Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s request.
Cabinet ministers were notified of the meeting shortly before it was held and were asked not to reveal details of it to the media or even reveal the meeting's existence.
The meeting, organized by Gantz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, dealt with a "sensitive security matter", the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
In recent weeks, Netanyahu has spoken with Putin, and Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi have spoken with their Russian counterparts, Sergey Shoygu and Sergei Lavrov.
On February 10, Gantz tweeted that his call with Shoygu was focused on the issue of humanitarian efforts and counterterrorism efforts.
The urgent Israeli cabinet meeting came a day after the UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that Israeli missile strikes killed at least six pro-regime foreign fighters in areas near Damascus.
An Iranian weapons depot, according to the Observatory, was also hit in the strike.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency the day after the attack, confirmed that Moscow and Tel Aviv have put in place a tactical coordination mechanism and established a hotline to prevent clashing with Russian forces in Syria.
“The Israeli army takes into consideration the safety and security of Russian troops in Syria,” Conricus said.
Russia and Israel also have a deconfliction mechanism in place, which allows Israeli jets to strike Iranian targets in Syria without threatening Russian forces.
Damascus, responding to the recent Israeli attack, filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and called on the international community to condemn Israel and prevent it from carrying out such attacks in the future.
With the help of Russian mediation, Damascus has negotiated the release of two Syrians held by Israel in exchange for releasing an Israeli woman that entered Syria by mistake, Syria’s official news agency (SANA) reported Wednesday.
Nihal al-Makt and Ziyab Qahmouz are Syrian nationals from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, SANA confirmed.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club (PPC) reported that Israel decided to release Qahmouz from its custody under an exchange deal with Damascus.
“The occupation prisons administration summoned, this morning, the Syrian prisoner Ziyab Qahmouz to inform him of the decision to release him to Syria, according to a deal that was concluded between Syria and the occupation, with Russian mediation,” said the PPC.
This prisoner swap deal is part of Russia’s broader efforts in Syria.
Early in February, eyewitnesses spotted Russian troops launching excavations at the Yarmouk refugee camp cemetery in south Damascus in search of an Israeli soldier’s remains.
Local reports suggested that the Russian military was looking to identify the body of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who had fallen in the First Lebanon War in 1982.
Home to one of the largest Palestinian refugee communities in Syria, the Yarmouk refugee camp was once again being searched for remains by the Russian military, the Syrian Capital Voice site reported.
The report said the search would include DNA testing.
The cemetery area was designated a closed military zone as Russian forces conducted the search operations, it added.
Local sources confirmed to the Capital Voice site that Russian forces have excavated many remains from the camp’s two cemeteries.
The battle of Sultan Yacoub, 39 years ago, was a skirmish between the IDF and Syrian army in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. It claimed the lives of 21 Israeli servicemen, and more than 30 were injured during it.
Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz went missing in the battle of Sultan Yacoub.
During the battle of Sultan Yacoub, Syrian forces took over eight Israeli tanks, one of which was put on display in a museum outside the Russian capital, Moscow.
In 2016, Putin heeded the request of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on returning the lost tank to Israel.
The remains of Zachary Baumel, who went missing with Feldman and Katz, were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019.
In exchange for Baumel’s remains, Tel Aviv released the two Syrian prisoners, Ahmed Khamis and Ziad Al-Tawil.
Early in 2020, Israel also freed two Syrian prisoners, one of them Sidqi al-Makt who was serving a prison sentence after being convicted of “espionage” for Damascus.
Netanyahu's office, at the time, said that the release of al-Makt and his colleague Amal Abu Saleh was a “goodwill gesture” after Baumel's remains were recovered.
Building Trust
To this date, Israel is still demanding the recovery of the remains of the legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was executed in Damascus in 1965.
Tel Aviv has also requested Russian mediation in solving the mystery behind the fate of missing airman Ron Arad, who was lost after his plane was shot down in Lebanon in 1986. Netanyahu is seeking a breakthrough in the search for the remains of Israeli soldiers in Syria before elections next month.
Recently, there have been reports of efforts to test the possibility of resuming peace negotiations between Damascus and Tel Aviv.
It is believed that the multiple “humanitarian deals” brokered by Russia between the two aim to “build confidence.”
