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.



Sri Lanka Train Memorial Honors Tsunami Tragedy

A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Sri Lanka Train Memorial Honors Tsunami Tragedy

A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)

Just inland from the crashing waves on Sri Lanka's palm-fringed shores, the train slowly came to a stop on Thursday -- marking the moment a deadly tsunami hit 20 years ago.

Sri Lanka's Ocean Queen Express became a symbol of the biggest natural disaster to hit the South Asian nation in living memory, when the train was struck by the giant waves of December 26, 2004.

About 1,000 people were killed -- both passengers and local residents, who had clambered inside desperately seeking shelter after the first wave hit.

After they boarded, two bigger waves smashed into the train, ripping it from the tracks and tumbling it onto its side more than 100 meters (330 feet) from the shoreline.

Each year since then, the Ocean Queen has stopped on the tsunami anniversary at the spot in Peraliya, a sleepy village some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the capital Colombo, to commemorate those killed.

"To me, it all brings back the very hard memories," said Tekla Jesenthu, whose two-year-old daughter died as the waves hit the area. "I don't want to think about or talk about it -- it hurts that much."

"Monuments won't bring them back," she added.

- Climbing for survival -

Survivors and relatives of the dead boarded the train in Colombo early in the morning before it headed south with national flags fluttering on its front and then slowed to a creaking halt in commemoration.

Villagers came out, the line was closed and a few moments of quiet settled.

Mourners offered flowers and lit incense at a beachside memorial for 1,270 people buried in mass graves, with Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies held.

"When I saw the first wave, I started running away from the waves," said U. A. Kulawathi, 73, a mother whose daughter was killed, her body swept out to sea.

"The water reached the roof levels and people climbed the roofs to save themselves."

The 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island triggered huge waves that swept into coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other nations around the Indian Ocean basin.

A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database. Of those, 35,399 were in Sri Lanka.

Sarani Sudeshika, 36, a baker whose mother-in-law was among those killed, recalled how "animals started making strange noises and people started shouting, saying, 'Sea water is coming'".