Shafaq News/ Israel is nearing a prisoner exchange deal to secure therelease of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in exchange for Hezbollahprisoners held by Israel during the recent war in Lebanon.
Last October, the group’s Secretary-General, Naim Kassem, acknowledgedthat some of its fighters were held by Israel during the war between October2023 and November 2024 but did not specify the number. However, sources saidthere are seven.
Lebanese and Iraqi sources told Amwaj that among those set for releaseis Imad Amhaz, a Lebanese marine captain who was captured in a specialoperation conducted by Israel’s naval commando unit, Shayetet 13, on November1, 2024, in the northern Lebanese coastal town of Batroun, located more than160 km (100 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel has described Amhaz as Hezbollah’s naval chief, a claim rejectedby Hezbollah.
Tsurkov, a US-based political science researcher, first traveled toBaghdad in early 2022 following multiple trips to Iraqi Kurdistan. She residedin Baghdad’s Karrada district before leaving in November of that year,returning two months later to continue her doctoral research, which includedinterviews with members of the Sadrist Movement. She briefly left Iraq in January2023 to renew her visa and returned in March, after which she was reportedlyabducted while attempting to meet a senior Sadrist commander.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Kataib Hezbollah,an Iraqi Iran-aligned armed group, of being behind the kidnapping. The grouphas not publicly confirmed any involvement. An Iraqi senior source close toShiite armed factions stated to Amwaj that Tsurkov’s captors have shown awillingness to proceed with an exchange, but Israel has not yet agreed to theproposed deal.
Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Axios that Tsurkovremains alive and that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is activelyworking to secure her release.
In November 2023, a video aired on Al Rabiaa TV showing Tsurkov, whereshe claimed she had been detained for seven months and had worked for the CIAand Mossad in Iraq and Syria. Her family and friends quickly dismissed theseclaims, emphasizing that Tsurkov is a scholar focused on academic research.
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