An Israeli-Russian Princeton University graduate student who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2023 while conducting research there has been freed and will return to Israel Wednesday, according to U.S. President Donald Trump and her family.

Elizabeth Tsurkov was taken hostage in Baghdad on March 21, 2023, while doing research for her doctorate about sectarianism in the region.

In July 2023, the Israeli government announced that she was being held by Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Iraqi Shia militia that is backed by Iran. Separate from the Hezbollah that is based in Lebanon, it was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2009.

Tsurkov’s sister Emma, a U.S. citizen and director of quantitiative research for the Anti-Defamation League, cheered her release and credited A

See Full Page