A Princeton University student, held for over two years by an Iran-backed militia, has been freed, Donald Trump has announced.
In a social media post Tuesday, the president said that 38-year-old Elizabeth Tsurkov, who went missing while on a study trip in March 2023, had been returned to the American embassy in Iraq after more than 900 days in captivity.
“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
“I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!”
The news was also confirmed by Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who hailed it as the “culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months.”
In a statement Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber said that Tsurkov’s release “brings relief and joy to the University community, and we celebrate that she will be reunited with her family.”
“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,” the statement read.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the return of Tsurkov and said the government would continue to fight “with vigor and determination until we bring back all of our hostages, the living and the deceased."
“This evening I had an emotional conversation with her mother and Avital, Elizabeth's sister, and I told them that the entire people of Israel was happy to see her return home,” he said.
Four months after Tsurkov’s disappearance, the Israeli government announced she had been abducted by Kataib Hezbollah.
The Shiite paramilitary group is based in Iraq and is a separate organization from the Hezbollah movement, which is also Iran-backed, but operates in Lebanon. Both are listed by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations and linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Tsurkov traveled to Iraq in January 2023 to do academic research for her Ivy League school doctorate. According to The New York Times she holds both Israeli and Russian passports, but entered the country using her Russian documents due to tensions between Iraq and Israel.
Since her disappearance, the only direct sign of life Tsurkov’s family has received was a November 2023 video of her broadcast on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media.
However they had remained hopeful of her release. Reports back in May suggested that negotiators had been very close to a deal, but the terms were complicated and nothing materialized at the time.
Repeated attempts to secure her freedom previously had met dead ends.
