An Iraqi woman and former sex slave kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) militants a decade ago was freed from Gaza following a complicated operation months in the making that involved the United States as well as Iraq and Israel.
Yazidi woman captured by ISIS rescued in Gaza after more than a decade in captivity - CNN
How appalling that some people in the west are supporting child trafficking rapists like Hamas & Hezbollah. Our countries have been infected. https://t.co/weOlQPnZwx— The Hon. Lady E (@witchinateacup) October 7, 2024
The woman, identified as 21-year-old Fawzia Amin Saydo, is a member of the Yazidis, an ancient ethnoreligious group primarily found in Iraq and Syria that suffered greatly after the Islamic State killed thousands of Yazidis during a brutal campaign and kidnapped thousands of women to be sold as sex slaves or spoils of war, which the United Nations consider a genocide.
Because of the ongoing diplomatic rift between Israel and Iraq, it took more than four months of vigorous efforts by humanitarian efforts as well as direct intervention from American diplomatic missions in the region to coordinate the girl’s rescue. Israeli, Iraqi, Jordanian, and United Nations officials were also involved in the mission.
“On October 1, 2024, the United States helped to safely evacuate from Gaza a young Yazidi woman to be reunited with her family in Iraq,” a US State Department spokesperson told the Voice of America (VOA), adding that Saydo’s story “is heartbreaking, and we are glad that she will be reunited with her family in Iraq.”
That poor young woman will carry that trauma with her forever. We hope she can eventually find peace.
— CommonSenseIsn'tCommonAnymore (@DCFanFirst) October 3, 2024
Silwan Sinjaree, the chief of staff of the Iraqi foreign minister, said the efforts involved several attempts that failed due to the difficult security situation arising from Israel’s military offensive in Gaza against Hamas.
Iraqi officials have been in contact with Saydo for months and passed on her information to American officials, who then worked with Israeli officials to arrange for her exit from Gaza. The Israeli military said it coordinated with the US Embassy in Jerusalem as well as "other international actors" to rescue and free Saydo.
The Israeli military also released a statement that her captor had been killed during the war, presumably by an Israeli strike, and she then fled to a hideout in Gaza.
As Iraqi, I thank my Jewish cousins for their bravery in rescuing this young woman, being held by H*amas barbarians, it proves once again that these ter*rorists are nothing but another version of ISIS.
Thank you Israel & Shana Tova— Hayder Alasadi (@1AlasadiHayder) October 3, 2024
"In a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors, she was recently rescued in a secret mission from the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing," the Israeli military said.
It added that Saydo entered Israel and continued to Jordan through the Allenby Bridge Crossing. From there, she was reunited with her family in Iraq, where she is currently resting.
Hamas countered the claim that the woman was abducted and taken to Gaza, calling it "a false narrative and fabricated story,” claiming she was able to leave with their knowledge.
This just seems fake
— LouKas (@loukas93749) October 4, 2024
"She requested to contact her family because she felt increasingly unsafe in Gaza amid the intense bombing and brutal attacks by the Israeli occupation. She asked for evacuation, especially after her husband was martyred," the Hamas’ government media office in Gaza said.
"The Yazidi woman left the government facility to the crossing on her own, with the knowledge of her deceased husband’s family and the Palestinian government. The occupation did not 'rescue' her, as falsely claimed in its statement aimed at misleading public opinion," it added.
