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Israeli Woman Charged After Returning From Syria in Russian-Mediated Deal

Fences are seen on the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)
Fences are seen on the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)
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Israeli Woman Charged After Returning From Syria in Russian-Mediated Deal

Fences are seen on the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)
Fences are seen on the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)

An Israeli woman who crossed illegally into Syria and was returned in a Russian-mediated deal last month was charged in an Israeli court on Sunday, prosecutors said.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was charged with illegally leaving the country and visiting Syria in violation of Israeli law before the Nazareth District Court, the prosecution said.

Additional details remained under gag order. Many details remain censored by the Israeli military.

The terms of the deal that secured her release last month still remain murky weeks later.

The woman had reportedly jumped the fence along the demilitarized zone separating the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria.

In exchange for her release, Israel said it had released two Syrian shepherds who had entered Israeli territory.

Israeli media reports said that Israel paid Russia $1.2 million to supply the Syrian government with coronavirus vaccines as part of the deal, The Associated Press reported.

The released 25-year-old Israeli woman was returned to Israel via Moscow and was questioned by Israel’s internal security agency.

She hails from the predominantly ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit and previously attempted to cross Israel’s borders with the Gaza Strip and Jordan, according to Israeli media. Her identity and motivation for crossing into Syria have not been released.

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At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
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At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)

Local Afghans and the Pakistani Taliban said Wednesday that civilians, including women and children, were killed after Pakistan launched rare airstrikes inside neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday's operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in the province of Paktika, bordering Afghanistan.
Residents in the area told an AP reporter over the phone that at least 13 people were left dead, adding that the death toll could be higher. They also said the wounded were transported to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed that 50 people, including 27 women and children, have died in the strikes.
Pakistan has not commented on the strikes. However, on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said security forces killed 13 insurgents in an overnight intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a district located along eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province.
The strikes are likely to further spike tensions between the two countries. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban government denounced the attack, saying on Tuesday that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region and promising retaliation.
The TTP is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
In March, Pakistan said intelligence-based strikes took place in the border regions inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has seen innumerable militant attacks in the past two decades but there has been an uptick in recent months. The latest was this weekend when at least 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed when TTP attacked a checkpoint in the country’s northwest.
Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of not doing enough to combat militant activity across the shared border, a charge the Afghan Taliban government denies, saying it does not allow anyone to carry out attacks against any country.