Israel’s ‘forgotten hostage’: Captured Hezbollah fighters could be freed in exchange for researcher held in Iraq – report

After two years that Elizabeth Tsurkov was held hostage by an Iraqi militia backed by Iran, a new proposal could see her released in exchange for several Hezbollah terrorists captured by Israel during the fighting in Lebanon, according to the Britain-based news outlet Amwaj Media.

Citing anonymous informed sources in Baghdad and Beirut, Amwaj reported Friday that Tsurkov’s captors, which Israel believes to be the Shia terror group Kataib Hezbollah, are ready to free the Russian-Israeli academic researcher in the exchange.

In turn, Israel would free captured Hezbollah fighters, including Imad Amhaz, a naval captain the IDF captured in a daring commando raid deep within Lebanese territory, and who Israel says commanded Hezbollah’s naval forces.

According to the report, Israel has not yet agreed to the proposal. An Israeli source told media outlets on Friday that "the efforts to free Tsurkov are being made continuously and in various ways."

Tsurkov was working at Princeton University in the U.S. and visited Iraq using her Russian passport for her PhD research, when she was kidnapped by terrorists almost two years ago.

Israeli citizens are forbidden from entering Iraq, which is categorized as a hostile state, even using another passport.

The Prime Minister’s Office at the time said Israel sees “Iraq as the one responsible for her fate and safety,” leading to fears that Israel could respond by striking in Iraq, which hasn’t happened yet.

Last week, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported that Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told him Tsurkov is still alive, assuring him that Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani was working toward her release.

The last sign of life from Tsurkov came in Nov. 2023, when a short video clip ostensibly showing her circulated on Iraqi and pro-Iranian media outlets.

In recent weeks, there have been signs that efforts to free Tsurkov have gained momentum, coinciding with the inauguration of the new U.S. administration and the ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Israeli government had reached out to several allies in a concerted effort to work toward her release and raised the issue at a meeting of special envoys for hostage affairs, a senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel two weeks ago.

Last year, Elizabeth’s sister Emma disrupted a press conference held by Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani, accusing him of not doing enough to free Tsurkov.

“You can’t, because they are your government’s partners. They are Iraqi government employees, and you should be ashamed of yourself that you’re not doing anything to help her and save her,” Tsurkov added. “She’s innocent and you know it.”

The group Israel believes is responsible for the kidnapping is Kataib Hezbollah, a group that is part of the mainly Shia, Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which integrated numerous militias as brigades and was eventually incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces as a paramilitary force.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, an Iraqi group called Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which unites numerous PMF militias including Kataib Hezbollah, has claimed responsibility for over 180 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, and over 115 direct attacks on Israel.

In September, Israel killed a senior member of Kataib Hezbollah in an airstrike near the Syrian capital of Damascus.