A Syrian media source has denied reports from some media outlets regarding the existence of a "secret clause" in the exchange process that resulted in the release of Syrian prisoners Mohammed Hussein and Tarek Al-Abidan from Israeli occupation prisons, along with activist Nahal Al-Maqd.
The Syrian news agency SANA quoted the source as saying: "The promotion of fabricated information about a clause in the exchange process related to obtaining COVID-19 vaccines from the Israeli occupation authorities aims to undermine the process of freeing Syrian prisoners from occupation and to harm Syria’s image, distorting the national and humanitarian aspects of the operation." The source added that "Syria has been clear in its dealings with the exchange process that resulted in the release of three of its prisoners, and that the media outlets disseminating this information aim to polish the image of the Israeli occupation and attribute humanitarian characteristics to it, which are absent given its occupation of Arab land, the displacement of its people, and its continued crimes against the Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese peoples."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israel had agreed to acquire hundreds of thousands of doses of the Russian vaccines against the COVID-19 virus to supply them to Syria as part of the recent prisoner exchange deal. It indicated that Israel committed, within the latest exchange agreement, to assist Syria in combating COVID-19, as the newspaper claimed today citing international sources confirming that this secret agreement was reached under the mediation of Russia. The Hebrew channel Kan also confirmed that the Israeli government unanimously approved "paying an additional price" for the release of an Israeli held in Syria.
