An Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University in New Jersey who was kidnapped by a Shiite militia in Iraq in 2023 has been released from captivity and is now in U.S. custody, President Donald Trump and the student's family said on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Tsurkov was kidnapped by the militia Kataib Hezbollah during a research trip to Iraq in March 2023, according to officials.

Trump said on social media that Tsurkov "is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his help in gaining Tsurkov's release, a senior U.S. official said.

The release came days after Trump signed an executive order paving the way for the U.S. to designate countries around the world as state sponsors of w

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