Syria repatriates Israeli citizen in swap deal: Netanyahu

Jerusalem, Feb 19 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced late on Thursday that an Israeli citizen who crossed the border into Syria has been repatriated under a Russia-brokered swap deal.The move came hours after Israel freed two Syrian shepherds as part of the swap deal. Netanyahu thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a tweet on Friday for facilitating the exchange, the Xinhua news reported.Earlier this week, Syria's state news agency SANA reported that the Israeli woman accidentally entered Syria's Quneitra region after crossing from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.Israel and Syria have a border along the Golan Heights, which the Jewish state seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981.
--IANS int/rs