Concerns in Israel that Hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov Has Been Transferred to Iran

Israel fears that the Israeli-Russian hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov has been smuggled from Iraq to Iran. He added that "it's very fortunate that she is alive, usually they execute them during interrogations."

Against the backdrop of reports that the United States is demanding the immediate release of the Israeli-Russian hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Iraqi official said that "Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani does not know where Tsurkov is being held," as reported by Walla News.

The Iraqi official addressed the wave of rumors and also revealed that for many months, a rumor has been circulating among senior US government officials that Tsurkov was transferred to Iran for interrogation. "It's entirely possible that she was secretly transferred there, or that the Iranians sent intelligence investigators," he explained.

He further added that "it's very fortunate that Tsurkov is alive. Usually in such cases, they execute them during interrogations. Her foreign identity is working in her favor. I have no doubt that Prime Minister al-Sudani would find it much more convenient to release her and transfer her to the Americans, but he truly does not know where she is being held."

Tsurkov is a Princeton student and Russian-Israeli dual citizen who entered Iraq for research purposes when she was kidnapped by Kata'ib Hezbollah, a pro-Iran Iraqi militia in March 2023, a fact the militia denied for months.

On November 13, 2023, a 4-minute video was aired on Iraqi TV which showed Tsurkov to still be alive, though it could not be authenticated and Tsurkov identified neither those keeping her captive nor her location. In the video, which appears to have been made under duress, Tsurkov said that she worked for the CIA and the Mossad, something her family denies.

Multiple human rights organizations have written to the Iraqi government to secure her release, and Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker wrote to the Biden administration to try and secure her freedom.