Elizabeth Tsurkov, the Israeli-Russian who spent two and a half years as a hostage of the Kata'ib Hezbollah terrorist group in Iraq told The New York Times that the terror group "basically used me as a punching bag."
Tsurkov, a dual national, entered Iraq in January 2023 on her Russian passport to conduct field research for her doctoral dissertation. While trying to arrange meetings with several people in Iraq, she attracted the attention of the Kata'ib Hezbollah, a Shia Iraqi paramilitary group, considered to be one of the most powerful militias in Iraq.
In March 2023, she arranged to meet a woman in Baghdad who claimed to be researching the Islamic State, and asked for assistance. The meeting appears to have been a trap, part of a plot by the militia to capture Tsurkov.
After the woman failed to show up at the meeting place, Tsurkov was accosted by militants in a black SUV, placed in a hood, restrained, and driven to a large house. There, she was placed in a windowless room, and monitored by cameras.
She would spend the next four and a half months in that house, suffering constant abuse from her kidnappers, who were convinced she was a spy.
Tsurkov said that initially, her captors were not aware that she was Israeli, and she believes that they intended to use her for ransom. However, after about a month and a half, they discovered evidence of her Israeli identity on her cellphone, which they had confiscated during the kidnapping.
The Kata'ib Hezbollah members accused her of being an Israeli spy, and when she did not confess, she was "strung up and tortured."
The kidnappers asked about her military service, as Israeli citizens are required to do mandatory military service. Afraid of telling them the truth, she lied and said she served in a hospital.
However, her guards did not believe her and beat her until she finally confessed that she had served at a junior level in the military intelligence department. During the beatings, Tsurkov lost a tooth.
In July, 2023, almost four months after her kidnapping, the Israeli government publicly acknowledged the capture and stated, "We hold Iraq responsible for her fate and safety."
Around a month later, she was moved to a different location, which while still windowless, was larger, and had books, a television, and a bathroom and kitchen. At that place, a male nurse was put in charge of her care.
During the entire two years that she remained in this place, "I never saw the sun," Tsurkov told the Times.
While there, she recorded a video, parts of which aired on Iraqi television, and provided the first proof of life.
In the video, she attempted to send coded messages to the Israeli government to convey the torture she had experienced. However, those sections of the video were not broadcast.
This location was close to the Iranian border. She was there during the 12-day Israel-Iran War, Operation Rising Lion, and said that some Israeli strikes were so close that the building shook.
In September of this year, she was abruptly transferred out of that residence and taken to an Iraqi official in Baghdad. There she was examined by female doctors for the first time since her capture.
It was later revealed that the U.S. government had begun to place pressure on the Iraqi government to secure her release. Tsurkov told the Times that she believes Israel's recent assassinations of high-ranking leaders in Hamas, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iranian officials during and after the 12-day war rattled the militia members and caused them to view her as liability.
While Kata'ib Hezbollah never admitted to kidnapping or holding her, after her release, Abu Ali Al-Askari, the Kata'ib spokesman, released a statement about her that contained some of the details from the unaired portions of her video statement. Tsurkov said this is proof that the militia was the one who held her hostage.
Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani claimed that the country would not be able to disarm the militias like Kata'ib Hezbollah, as long as U.S. and other foreign soldiers remain in Iraq.
The U.S. has been pressuring Sudani to dismantle militias affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shi'ite factions, which includes Kata'ib Hezbollah.
Sudani told Reuters that after the large number of foreign troops leave, "Then, for sure, there will be a clear program to end any arms outside of state institutions."
Republished with permission from All Israel News.