Several worldwide media and local Israeli media reported that under Russian mediation, Israel and Syria recently reached an agreement on the issue of prisoner exchange. One of the conditions for the agreement is that Israel will provide Syria with a Russian coronavirus vaccine.
According to an Israeli source quoted by the British Guardian on February 20, Israel will purchase Russian coronavirus vaccine for Syria as part of the prisoner exchange agreement.
Previously, many Israeli media have also made relevant reports on the exchange of vaccines for prisoners.
Israeli journalist Barack Ravid tweeted that under the agreement, Israel will pay Russia 1.2 million US dollars to purchase Russia’s “Sputnik-V” vaccine for the Syrian government.
The delivery of vaccines is considered to be a “secret clause” in the prisoner exchange agreement, and some Israeli media said that Russia, which is still vaccinate its own people, also requires confidentiality.
However, foreign media began to widely report on this “secret deal” from the 20th.
Israel’s Haaretz analysis believes that the vaccine agreement with Syria may put the Netanyahu government under pressure, because militant organizations such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip may also use similar methods to obtain vaccines.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced on February 19 that a young Israeli woman who crossed into Syria would return to Israel in exchange for the repatriation of two Syrian shepherds detained.
It is not clear why the Israeli woman entered Syria.
However, the Syrian state media, the Syrian News Agency (SANA), denied the claim that vaccines were exchanged for prisoners.
SANA quoted anonymous sources as saying that the reports were “false news” and intended tout Israel as a humanitarian country in an attempt to improve its political image.
According to the Russian Sputnik news agency, neither Syrian and Israeli government officials have commented on the matter.
