Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov returned to Israel this evening, more than two years after she was abducted by Iran-linked terrorists in Iraq and a day after she was freed.
The Prime Minister's Office and the Mossad said in a joint statement: "Elizabeth Tsurkov, who had been held hostage in Iraq and was released last night, has landed in Israel."
"The Director of the Mossad thanks his Cypriot counterpart for the assistance in Elizabeth's humanitarian passage through Cyprus to Israel. The cooperation between the two countries has proven itself once again."
Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and a fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, had been missing since March 2023. Israel said in July of that year that Tsurkov was held by Kata'ib Hezbollah, a Shiite militia group affilated with Iran.