By Donald Gilpin
Princeton University graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov was freed on September 9 by the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, which had held her hostage for 903 days. Her release was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on X (formerly Twitter) and President Donald Trump on Truth Social.
The Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that significant pressure from the Iraqi government and the U.S. had prompted Kataib Hezbollah to release Tsurkov, who was moved to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad then taken to Israel to seek medical care and to reunite with her family.
It is not clear if there were conditions or a “deal” accompanying the release, but a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat that there had been “a decisive partnership” with Prime Minister al-Sudani in working with the captors. The Arabic newspaper also reported last week that Kataib Hezbollah had come to believe that Tsurkov had become a liability as a hostage.
“The release of Princeton graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov brings relief and joy to the University community, and we celebrate that she will be reunited with her family,” Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote in a statement following Tsurkov’s release. “We thank President Trump for securing Elizabeth’s release. We are also grateful to those who worked tirelessly to bring an end to her terrible ordeal, including her family, friends, and advocates.”
Elizabeth’s sister Emma Tsurkov also expressed her appreciation, writing on social media last week, “My entire family is incredibly happy. We can’t wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days.” She thanked Trump and Special Envoy Adam Boehler, as well as Josh Harris and his team at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and the team at the nonprofit Global Reach, “who advocated relentlessly for my sister’s safe return.”
Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, is a doctoral candidate in political science at Princeton. She disappeared in March 2023 while on a research trip to Baghdad doing fieldwork related to her Ph.D. dissertation. In July 2023 the Israeli government announced that she had been abducted by Kataib Hezbollah.
Tsurkov is fluent in Arabic and has conducted fieldwork in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, and elsewhere in the region and has focused her research on the 2011 Syrian uprising and the civil war that followed.
Tsurkov, 38, had undergone a spinal operation before her abduction in 2023. In videos from the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, where she arrived on September 10, according to The Times of Israel, she is seen smiling and joking with doctors and loved ones but walking with difficulty and said to be “suffering from severe back pain that was exacerbated during her captivity.”
She was released from Sheba Medical Center on Monday after a five-day stay for medical tests and rehabilitation.
The Times of Israel further reports that Tsurkov’s mother Irina, after hearing of her daughter’s release from captivity, told Israeli Army Radio: “I’m going crazy. It’s crazy joy, happiness. I’ve waited for this moment for almost two and a half years.”