Fawzia Amin Sido, 21, a young Yazidi woman kidnapped from her home in Iraq by Islamic State terrorists in 2014 when she was just 11 years old, was rescued from Gaza by IDF forces and reunited with her family in her home country.
The woman’s rescue marks a complex political-diplomatic process after which Sido was released after ten years in captivity with the aid of Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
According to various reports, Fawzia was taken from her home in Iraq to Syria after she was kidnapped, where she was purchased by a Palestinian ISIS supporter who brought her to Gaza. She was forced to bear his children, and he later returned to Syria, where he was reportedly killed in an attack. However, the Palestinian family continued to hold the woman hostage until her recent release.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sido’s release, now 21 years old, noting that it was carried out "via a joint effort with the international intelligence service," without mentioning Israel's role or the fact she was held in Gaza.
According to Iraq’s foreign ministry, the release was coordinated "in close collaboration with the U.S. embassies in Baghdad and Amman, as well as Jordanian authorities, after over four months of efforts and monitoring." The ministry also mentioned that Sido was moved between several countries before being released.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s digital diplomacy division head David Saranga announced the rescue on Thursday and said, "Fauzia was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member for years. Now, she has reunited with her family. Her story is a reminder of the cruelty faced by Yazidi children who were taken by force. Some 101 Israelis are still held hostage in Gaza.”
