Israeli forces have rescued an Iraqi woman who was kidnapped 10 years ago by so-called Islamic State before being held captive in Gaza.
Fawzia Amin Sido, 21, arrived back in Iraq on Wednesday, Iraqi authorities said.
Israel’s military said on Thursday that the woman was freed in a rescue operation earlier this week that was coordinated with the United States.
Islamic State militants enslaved and killed thousands from the Yazidi religious minority as they seized much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria in 2014.
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚, 𝐚 𝟐𝟏-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐘𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐝𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 3, 2024
According to the Israeli army, Ms Sido was abducted by the IS when she was 11 and at some point was trafficked to a Palestinian and brought to Gaza.
The military said the Palestinian belonged to Hamas and was killed, apparently by an air strike.
A spokesperson said Ms Sido was taken through the Kerem Shalom border, which connects Gaza with Israel.
From there she travelled to Jordan and then to Iraq, where she was reunited with family members.
The Iraqi government said only that she was freed “in one of the countries of the region”.
