CNN
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A 21-year-old Yazidi lady has been rescued from Gaza the place she had been held captive by Hamas for years after being trafficked by ISIS.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) mentioned Thursday that Fawzia Amin Sido was freed this week in an operation coordinated between Israel, the USA and different worldwide actors.
Fawzia instructed CNN that she has been returned to Iraq after enduring years of captivity.
She mentioned that she was initially kidnapped by ISIS as a baby in August 2014 when the group captured town of Sinjar within the Nineveh Governorate of northern Iraq, executing Yazidi males and boys and committing acts of sexual violence and rape towards girls and women, amongst different crimes.
Over the subsequent few years, Fawzia was trafficked to completely different places throughout a number of international locations.
“We ended up in Al-Hol camp (in Syria) earlier than we had been smuggled to Idlib in 2019, and from there, we went to Turkey. In 2020, they organized a passport for me in Turkey so I may fly from Istanbul to Hurghada, Egypt, after which to Gaza,” she mentioned.
She instructed CNN that she stayed in Rafah within the southern Gaza Strip for a yr, the place life was “insufferable.”
“Hamas consistently harassed me as a consequence of my Yazidi background and speak to with my household, even going as far as to format my telephone [erase its contents] throughout their investigations. After a yr, they moved me to a visitor home.”
When the Israel-Hamas warfare broke out in 2023, she was once more moved round continuously – till October 1, when she mentioned an NGO rescued her.
The IDF mentioned that her captor was killed, “presumably throughout IDF strikes” in Gaza, permitting her to flee to a hideout, from the place she was rescued and brought to the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Fawzia didn’t point out a strike when she spoke to CNN about her ordeal, saying solely that she was rescued by an NGO – which she couldn’t recall the identify of – in Rafah.
“From there, American officers took me and helped return me to Baghdad,” she mentioned.
Israel launched a video exhibiting her reuniting along with her members of the family, who had been overcome with emotion as they embraced her.
Iraq’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned she was freed after over 4 months of efforts from Iraqi authorities businesses working with American and Jordanian authorities.
US State Division spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed that the US helped evacuate Fawzia from Gaza. He echoed Israel’s account, saying that “the latest demise of her captor in Gaza allowed her to flee.”
“We had been contacted by the Iraqi authorities, who was made conscious of the truth that she escaped, that she was alive, and that she wished to come back dwelling to her household. And the federal government of Iraq requested us to do no matter we may to get her out of Gaza and get her dwelling. So over the previous few weeks, we labored with various our companions within the area to get her out of Gaza,” Miller mentioned at a press briefing on Thursday.
