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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Politics

Israeli-Russian researcher freed in Iraq after two years in captivity

Elizabeth Tsurkov Iraq Emma Tsurkov United States Israel Donald Trump Adam Boehler Benjamin Netanyahu Kataib Hezbollah Hezbollah
Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov [File: Ahmad Mohamad/AFP]

Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton University student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been freed in Iraq after spending more than two years in the custody of an Iraqi armed group, US President Donald Trump has announced.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” Trump posted on TruthSocial on Tuesday, referring at the end to the captives held in Gaza, who were taken from Israel during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack.

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