Iraqi militias deny negotiations for Israeli hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov’s release

Three Iraqi sources close to pro-Iranian militias denied reports of negotiations to secure the release of Israeli hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov, 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 potential prisoner exchange. Under the suggested deal, Israel would release Hezbollah operatives and the captain of a Lebanese vessel—whom the IDF identified as a senior Hezbollah figure—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.

Last month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said that Tsurkov was alive and confirmed that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani was making efforts to secure her release. His comments came two weeks after a senior Israeli official told The Washington Post that Israel had recently intensified its efforts to free her, with the involvement of allied nations.

Tsurkov, 36, is an Israeli national with Russian citizenship who had been living in the United States while pursuing a Ph.D. at Princeton University. She was abducted in Baghdad on March 26, 2023, during a research trip. While Kataib Hezbollah is widely believed to be holding her, the militia has denied involvement in her abduction.