A 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Iraq a decade ago was freed from Gaza this week in a secret operation months in the making that involved Israel, the United States and Iraq, officials said.
The woman is a member of the ancient Yazidi religious minority mostly found in Iraq and Syria which saw more than 5,000 members killed and thousands more kidnapped in an IS campaign in 2014 that the U.N. has said constituted genocide.
She was freed after more than four months of efforts that involved several attempts that failed due to the difficult security situation resulting from Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, Silwan Sinjaree, chief of staff of Iraq’s foreign minister, told Reuters.
She has been identified as Fawzia Sido. Reuters could not reach the woman directly for comment, with Iraqi officials saying she was resting after having been reunited with her family in northern Iraq.
She has been identified as Fawzia Sido. Reuters could not reach the woman directly for comment, with Iraqi officials saying she was resting after having been reunited with her family in northern Iraq.
Iraqi officials had been in contact with the woman for months and passed on her information to U.S. officials, who arranged for her exit from Gaza with the help of Israel, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Iraq and Israel do not have any diplomatic ties.
The Israeli military said it had coordinated with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and “other international actors” in the operation to free Sido.
It said in a statement her captor had been killed during the Gaza war, presumably by an Israeli strike, and she then fled to a hideout inside the Gaza Strip.
“In a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors, she was recently rescued in a secret mission from the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” it said.
After entering Israel, she continued on to Jordan through the Allenby Bridge Crossing and from there returned to her family in Iraq, the military said.