Three Iraqi sources close to pro-Iranian militias denied reports of negotiations to secure the release of Israeli hostage , insisting there are “no channels of communication with the Israeli enemy.”
The sources told the Qatari newspaper The New Arab that claims circulating in Israeli media were false and that they had first heard about such reports through the press.
However, on Friday, sources in Baghdad and Beirut told the British-based news outlet Amwaj that a proposal had been raised for a . Under the suggested deal, Israel would release Hezbollah operatives and the captain of a Lebanese vessel—whom the —in return for Tsurkov’s freedom. According to the report, her captors from the pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah militia expressed willingness to proceed with the exchange, but Israel had yet to approve the deal.
The Iraqi sources also dismissed previous reports that the Iraqi government was actively working for Tsurkov’s release. “Do they even know where she is? Who she is with? How could they act?” one source questioned.