Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian researcher who is being held hostage by an Iraqi militia, is alive and Iraq’s prime minister is working to secure her release, according to what an Israeli journalist on Thursday said that Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told him.
“Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told me in Davos that Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov who has been held hostage by an Iraqi militia is alive and stressed Prime Minister [Mohammed Shia al-]Sudani is working for her release,” Barak Ravid, who writes for Axios, tweeted.
Earlier this month, Emma Tsurkov, the sister of Elizabeth, told JNS that Donald Trump’s return to the White House as president of the United States gives her family hope for the captive’s release.
“We are very hopeful that the incoming [U.S.] administration will put an end to the lack of accountability and lawlessness that the Iraqi government is allowed to get away with,” Emma Tsurkov said.
Elizabeth Tsurkov has been held captive in Iraq by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah (“The Battalions of the Party of God”) since 2023. Washington has designated the group (a separate and distinct organization from the Lebanese Hezbollah) as a terrorist organization.
Last month, Emma Tsurkov took part in a meeting with senior Israeli officials and international mediators in a bid to secure her sister’s release.
