The first Syrian-Israeli prisoner exchange since the end of the June war took place today when Israel handed over 500 Syrian soldiers and one El Fatah guerrilla and received three bodies and one Israeli pilot. The guerrilla had been sentenced to life imprisonment by an Israeli court.
The bodies were handed over in coffins. One was of an Israeli youth who disappeared two years ago while searching for botanical specimens near the Syrian border. The Syrians denied for the entire two years any knowledge of the youth’s whereabouts. The other two dead were Israeli Air Force pilots killed by the Syrians.
The three coffins were wrapped in Israeli flags and placed in a car while members of a burial society recited Psalms. The pilot was met by Air Force Commander Mordechai Hod and sent home by helicopter.
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