Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian citizen kidnapped in Iraq, according to the Jewish state
Israel announces that one of its nationals has been held for several months by an Iraqi armed group. Academic Elizabeth Tsurkov also holds Russian citizenship, which has allowed her to travel to Iraq, and previously to other countries in the region that have not signed peace agreements with Israel. The Israeli government says the researcher "is alive" and that it holds Iraq "responsible for its security."
Academic Elizabeth Tsurkov was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. © Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy / AFP
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Elizabeth Tsurkov is Israeli and is in the hands of an armed group close to Iran. Potentially inextricable situation due to mutual hostility between two great regional enemies: the Islamic Republic and the Jewish State. In Jerusalem, the Prime Minister's Office says the researcher is being held by Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia fully aligned with Tehran's positions. "This case is being handled by the relevant authorities in Israel," the statement added.
No claim for now
However, no claims have been made by this paramilitary group. And it is also the silence of the authorities in Baghdad, as in Tehran.
On social networks, Elizabeth Tsurkov's last post was in March. Date she disappeared in Iraq, according to the Israeli government. PhD student at the American University of Princeton, collaborator of several think tanks in the United States, the researcher has been surveying the Middle East for years, including Syria where she is a specialist. She arrived in Baghdad in early December 2022, according to a diplomat stationed in Iraq.
See alsoIranian Revolutionary Guards killed in Israeli raids in Syria
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