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Elizabeth Tsurkov Returns to Israel After 903 Days in Iraqi Captivity

Iraqi security services handed her to the U.S. Embassy after months of talks, with Trump’s team credited as terms remain undisclosed.

This picture provided late on July 5, 2023 by Syrian citizen journalist Ahmad Mohamad who took the photo in Istanbul on May 26, 2017, shows Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov who had been missing in Iraq for months.
Israeli-Russian Graduate Student Kidnapped in Iraq Has Been Released, Trump and Family Say
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Overview

  • Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian Princeton doctoral student, was abducted in Baghdad in March 2023 by the Iran-aligned militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, according to Israeli officials.
  • After her release to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, she was flown to Israel for medical evaluation at Sheba Medical Center following a transit through Cyprus.
  • Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani credited security services with locating her detention site and arranging the handover, while militia sources told the AP the release followed negotiations rather than a military operation.
  • Her family thanked President Donald Trump, Special Envoy Adam Boehler, staff at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and the nonprofit Global Reach for their roles in securing her freedom.
  • Iraqi state TV aired a video in November 2023 showing her making espionage claims her family called coerced, and officials have not disclosed what, if anything, was exchanged for her release.